


Of Rampions and Revolutions

by lovelunarchron



Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, F/M, alternate beginning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 04:58:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 102,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4291560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelunarchron/pseuds/lovelunarchron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>ALTERNATE BEGINNING TO WINTER. The Rampion crew begins its trek to Luna. This story continues after Kai and Cinder's reunion in Cress, when Kai begins to question Thorne's intentions. What he doesn't realize is that Thorne has plans of his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There are 'sneak peek' one-liner teasers from Winter that I've incorporated into this fic. I did not write these lines, they were written by Marissa Meyer and do not belong to me. I used them for effect as we wait for Winter to be released.

Kai sat alone in his room, trying to process everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. It was a lot to take in. It seemed like entire days had passed since he'd sat locked in his office, waiting for a security breach to be fixed so he could go to his wedding ceremony. He now sat on a spaceship, _in space_ , surrounded by nothing but the breathtaking views of Earth and stars that enveloped him in every room he went. The future he had resigned himself to just days before felt like a distant memory. Levana had attacked Earth, he had been kidnapped, they were headed to the moon…and he had kissed Cinder. Linh Cinder, the cyborg mechanic Lunar fugitive.

No, _Princess Selene_.

He was still getting used to the concept. Cinder had been Selene all this time? And she hadn't even known? A part of him now felt guilty for having accused her of so many things during the course of their argument. There were so many things that she hadn't been able to control at all, in the end.

He had wondered, weeks ago while Cinder was on the run, how she had become a cyborg in the first place. He had pondered whether she had been in an accident or if she had simply been disfigured as a child. But now he knew. Levana had tried to murder her. Cinder's own _relative_ had tried to burn her alive. But someone had tried to save her and brought her to Earth.

Had the procedure been painful? Did she remember anything at all? He was pretty sure she didn't, but he wasn't willing to pry for any more information just yet. She claimed to only have found out who she was from Dr. Erland while she was held captive in New Beijing Prison, after all.

His prison. The prison where he had practically sent to her to her death. Guilt choked him again for a moment, but he fought it down. He hadn't known any better. And at the time, there wasn't much that he could have done to change the situation, anyway, even if he _had_ known. But he knew that he had a long way to go to understand all the complexities of Cinder, with all of her new identities now on display for him to see. Cyborg. Lunar. Princess.

And…his girlfriend?

Did the kiss mean that they would be together? Kai had never even dared to think that this could be a possibility before he had woken up on the Rampion, and he was so surprised by the turn of events that it was hard for him to linger on the question. They had more pressing things to think about now, didn't they? They would figure out their relationship status in the end—whatever end that was. But he couldn't get those brief moments of elation during their kiss out of his head, even if it had been thwarted almost instantly by Levana's brutal attack. Cinder had been devastated and scared—tormented by what she felt was her own fault. Admittedly, until he had understood that Cinder was Princess Selene, he thought that a lot of it was her fault too. Only now did he understand why Cinder couldn't just disappear and let him marry Levana. He had a vested interest in seeing Princess Selene reclaim her throne as well. But kidnapping him and postponing the wedding hadn't helped.

Cinder was a mess. It was one of the things he loved about her. On the outside, she was able to be strong when it was needed of her, but he knew that deep down she was scared and this comforted him. She had finally been real with him. And he was scared too. All those weeks that he had spent with Levana and the thaumaturges—all those unbearable moments of hatred and disbelief as Levana slowly tortured him by illustrating again and again that he had absolutely no power—made him understand just how much he feared Levana too. But maybe they could be strong together. At least, he would try to be strong for her. Cinder had risked her life so many times to help him and help Earth, so he felt that he owed it to her to be there for her now.

He wasn't sure how to show it, though. He wasn't even really sure where they stood. As much as he wanted to believe that their reunion and subsequent kiss would move them in a favorable direction, the rest of the night hadn't panned out how he had expected either. They had kissed, but they had been interrupted too much to explore their feelings further. And now he didn't know what to do. Or how Cinder really felt about moving on from that point. He knew he shouldn't be thinking about it, he knew he should be concentrating on their plan, but it was impossible for him not to circle back to the thoughts that clouded his mind.

Once the blonde girl—Cress—had opened the door and rushed in on them, exhaustion and stress overtook Cinder. After she let everyone know that Kai was aware of her plan, she had tried to save face as best she could, but she finally sat down and sort of crumpled together, muttering to herself somewhat incoherently on the floor. But Kai, feeling unsure from the sudden presence of an audience, had hesitated a moment too long to comfort her again. Much to his dismay, it was Carswell Thorne who had been the hero of the hour instead.

Cinder had said that he was blind, but it took him all of three seconds to find his way to her, sit down behind her, and pull her into his arms on the floor—not too differently from how Kai had been with her before Cress had interrupted them. Cinder had slumped into his embrace, probably too overwhelmed from thinking about the planned revolution and Levana's attacks. She had closed her eyes and rested her head on the crevice between his shoulder and neck. Thorne wrapped one arm around her waist and snuggled her tightly, whispering things into her ear while he rocked her. Kai knew it was his fault for hesitating, but he couldn't help feeling frustrated at Thorne's ease with her. _He_ should be the one comforting Cinder.

_Not_ this convict.

"You're just in shock from what happened at the palace, Cinder. We've been through worse than this," Thorne cooed. His cooing was sultry and smooth and irritated Kai more than he cared to admit. "We escaped jail together. We made it through the wolf attacks in Rieux together. Then again in Paris. We survived satellite crashes and kidnappings and thaumaturge attacks. Then we even survived the attack in Farrafrah by his His Majesty's pawns." Thorne stopped to glare at Kai, but since he didn't know where Kai was standing, just sort of glared randomly at a wall. Kai knew it was for him, though.

"And we made it back. Now we've kidnapped the Emperor and are safe, together. We're going to be _fine_. You're not alone in this. So pull it together because we're all together."

Kai couldn't help but count all the "we's" and "together's" that Thorne threw in there. Was it intentional? Did he just mean that they were working together, or was he trying to remind her of a possible relationship? Had they had an affair on this ship? Kai _had_ hated him immediately when he had learned of their initial escape, and he had to admit that part of it had been his unease that this good-looking man would be with Cinder the whole time.

But Kai had just kissed Cinder. Why did he suddenly feel so insecure, so inadequate? Why was he overcome with a pang of jealousy?

Well, what had he done to help Cinder? What had he done that had been heroic? Nothing. Thorne was the real hero in this situation. Kai had just made it more difficult for Cinder at every step.

Thorne lifted his head again. "Cress, could you get Iko? I'm gonna need some help moving Cinder."

Kai rushed to stop her. "I can take her."

Thorne found the sound of his voice and turned to him. "Your Majesty? Please. I don't think so. Can't you see the girl's traumatized? Or am I not the only blind man on this ship anymore? Clearly meeting with you only adds to her distress."

"But—"

"Cinder's gonna stay with me tonight, your _Imperial Highness._ I'm the only one she actually knows on this ship. And I'm the only one who knows how to cheer her up." A devilish grin spread across his face.

Kai shut up, feeling defeated and useless. Of course he was right. His brief encounters with Cinder were nothing compared to all the things that Thorne and Cinder had done together. He felt like a fool. Cinder barely looked up at Thorne and swatted him a little with her cyborg hand. "Shut up Thorne, you're so full of it."

Thorne only grinned harder and grabbed her hand into his own. "C'mon princess, this is just another one of our moments."

Cinder closed her eyes and slumped back against him again. Kai couldn't help but notice a small change in the expression of the blonde girl standing beside him as she watched Thorne with Cinder. What was that look she had? Was it mirroring his own jealous sentiments? Cress caught him staring at her and she blushed, trying to make her face look neutral again. What was Kai missing here? Was everyone on this ship in love with Carswell Thorne?

Kai had been forced to go back to his room since Iko wouldn't help Thorne with Cinder unless he wasn't there. And now he was stuck replaying that night's events over and over again. He felt as though he were being banished, as if he were the problem in this situation. He hated being in this room, feeling trapped with his thoughts. He certainly couldn't sleep anymore. In fact, he had probably slept an entire day after being shot with that lovely tranquilizer dart.

But he couldn't just sit in his room and think about Cinder all night, as he would probably go crazy. He was already conflicted enough, and the brief hug fest with Thorne had severely thrown his confidence. Instead, he made his way out of his room into the empty corridors and back towards the cockpit. Maybe he could search the netscreens to see what had been going on in the Eastern Commonwealth during his time away. To his surprise, he saw a figure sitting in the pilot's chair. He stumbled back abruptly, worried that it was the "harmless" Lunar Special Operative—Wolf, Cinder had called him—and nearly tripped. The man swiveled in his chair and to his dismay, Kai saw that it was none other than Carswell Thorne.

_Here we go_ , he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Thorne sat with Cinder for a while as she slept, not believing the ridiculousness of this situation. Cinder, who had been pretty bad about hiding her very obvious crush on the Emperor since he had known her, was now lying in _his_ room, on _his_ bunk. All while Emperor Kaito was somewhere else, fiddling his thumbs and doing stars knows what. _Royalty_ , he muttered.

He was glad to have a moment of peace and quiet and was even gladder that he couldn't see the Emperor. He probably would have punched him in his arrogant face. The Emperor didn't have any idea of how much they had been through to save _his_ butt, to stop _his_ stupid wedding, to save _his_ country. And instead of maybe thanking Cinder (and him) after all of it, he had just yelled at her. He had heard Kai's exasperated moans even after he had left the room. Cress, of course, hadn't let him listen in too long, but he'd heard enough as they had walked away. _His majesty_ didn't want to be kidnapped, _His majesty_ wanted to go back to Earth, _His majesty_ was an emperor, and Cinder had interrupted _his_ plans, and _blah, blah, blah_. What a royal whiner. He'd probably never had anyone ever tell him no before.

After they'd heard about Levana's attacks and Cress had rushed to let them know, Cinder was very obviously in distress. And then, he'd just stood there as _Thorne_ was the one who comforted Cinder. He felt another prick of protectiveness for Cinder rush up in him – the same he'd felt in the moment when he realized that the Emperor wasn't doing anything to make Cinder feel better and he had stepped up to the plate instead. He replayed the situation in his head and decided to have a nice chat with Cinder the next day about the men that she was interested in. Maybe he could knock some sense into her. _Stars,_ he couldn't believe that he was even thinking about getting involved. He was normally happy to mind his own business and hated being caught in drama.

But, a heartbroken Cinder was the last thing they needed. It wasn't that he minded helping Cinder, either. He and Cinder had been through a lot together, and someone needed to make sure she kept her wits together. But he was tired. He hadn't really had any rest since he'd first entered the satellite to save Cress, and…with everything that had happened with Cress, Dr. Erland, and their escape from New Beijing Palace, he just wanted a break. He hoped at least that the Emperor felt guilty for treating her badly after Thorne had insisted that Iko accompany Thorne and Cinder to his room.

The absurdity of the situation just made him annoyed. Cinder should be with Kai at this moment and he should be…he should be with… Thorne shoved the thought away as quickly as it appeared. He needed some air, a hot shower, and a break from all this tension. He listened, and after hearing the steady breath of Cinder inhaling and exhaling, he decided it was best to leave her here rather than attempt to wake her and bring her back to her own room. She deserved a break too.

Thorne felt the bed and pulled a blanket up to Cinder's neck, and then grabbed the top of the bunk to steady himself as he reached for his cane and got to his feet. He shuffled to the door and upon opening it, almost stumbled over Cress. He hadn't realized she was still awake, let alone that she had been waiting for him.

"Captain?"

"Cress…hey."

"Are you okay? You seem...distracted."

"It's nothing. I just need to help Cinder with something. We've been through some pretty bad situations together and I haven't really seen her freak out like this before."

"Oh, right," said Cress, beginning to walk. He quickly followed her footsteps and caught up to her. She paused.

"I guess I forgot how well you and Cinder must know each other. Escaping jail together and then weeks alone on this spaceship..." Cress let out a sigh, sounding deflated. He knew that she was probably even more exhausted than he was. "Well, is she okay?"

"She's sleeping now."

"She must be really tired."

"Yeah, and as you can imagine, she's pretty upset. But no worry, I'll set the Emperor straight tomorrow."

"What do you mean?"

Thorne sighed, scratching his chin. "I'm not gonna sit here and let him act like an idiot when Cinder is clearly into him."

"But Captain… the Emperor likes Cinder too."

"Well, I was certain he did before but now that he's on the ship he definitely isn't acting like it."

"No, no, when I burst into the room he was holding her and she was leaning into his chest and hugging him back!"

"What?"

"Yeah...the Emperor looked embarrassed and practically leapt away from her, but it was really cute –romantic, even! Actually, they looked a lot like you and Cinder did afterward."

Thorne snorted. "Romantic?"

Cress laughed, almost sounding like she had been holding her breath for a while. "Well...the Emperor did look pretty…jealous...that you were going to take her back to your room."

Thorne furrowed his brow. This was interesting news. "Wait...so you think they actually made up after all that yelling?"

"I think so! He was all cute and flustered when I walked in on them, and he pretty much turned dark red all over his ears."

"All cute? Don't tell me you have a crush on the world's most eligible bachelor as well."

She laughed. "Well, I just meant that maybe what you heard isn't exactly what happened."

"So why didn't he comfort Cinder then while we were there?"

"Maybe he's shy?"

"And you really think he seemed jealous that I was with Cinder?"

"Yeah...I mean..." She paused. "The way you talked...I thought...it made it seem like you were sort of implying that you and Cinder were…together...or had been together...or something." She stuttered, sounding sheepish.

Thorne laughed. "This is great! It's good to know I can make an emperor jealous."

Cress didn't say anything. He found her hand and gave her a squeeze. "I'm gonna go sit out in the cockpit for a while. I know I can't see anything, at least not yet, but I feel relaxed out there and just need a bit of a break."

"Okay, well goodnight, Captain." She hesitated, not pulling her hand away.

"Cress?"

"I was just thinking, it still seems surreal not to be sleeping on sand anymore, doesn't it?"

He sighed. "I know, right? We didn't really have any time to enjoy it between you getting kidnapped and us trying to stop the wedding. But just think, one of the most exciting prospects of going to Luna is that there definitely won't be any deserts anywhere." He laughed. "Sleep well in your sand-free bed tonight, ok? It's been a long day."

He let her hand go, and maneuvered his way slowly to the cockpit of his beloved ship, replaying Cress' words in his mind. So...the Emperor _did_ have feelings for Cinder. At least, Cress thought he did. This was good news for Cinder, then. Or maybe not, considering that the Emperor probably didn't have any clue how to handle the ladies. He would likely mess it all up. All the screaming, swooning girls of his fandom had probably never required him to develop any real skills in _amore_.

He thought back to his years in school. He definitely should have started up that Flirting 101 course – he would be rich by now, and it was probably a career choice that would have not landed him in jail. Well, too late to make that change now.

Maybe he would reconsider his meddling. After all, this was the guy whose military had locked him up in New Beijing Prison. The one who had given the order to have Cinder locked up as well. The guy who now thought that Thorne was possibly...into Cinder? He laughed. It was too easy. This guy deserved to be jealous. He certainly _had_ annoyed Thorne enough to deserve a bit of a hard time, too. Plus, if he was honest with himself, the thought of yet another imminent experience with blood-thirsty Lunars clawed at him and made him feel uncomfortable. And with his thoughts always flitting back to… yes, a distraction could be well worth his time.

He jerked up as he heard someone approaching, and upon discovering that it was His Majesty himself, Thorne couldn't help but grin. What was that Second Era expression in all the books he'd read in school? Ah yes, all's fair in love and war.

"Your Majesticness!" he exclaimed, knowing that it probably would irritate the Emperor.

He heard him stop and draw in a deep breath. Silence.

"Why don't you have a seat?"

"Fine." After a hesitation, he heard Kai shuffle slowly into the co-pilot seat next to him. Thorne swiveled again to face him, but Kai said nothing. Neither did Thorne. Thorne propped his feet up on the dash and attempted to make himself as comfortable as possible. He enjoyed feeling the palpable tension between them. He relished in the fact that his presence was likely making the Emperor uncomfortable and felt like – for once—he had a one-up on the elite of this world. This was going to be fun.


	3. Chapter 3

Kai sat in silence looking through the cockpit window, fixated on the stars that seemed to float in front of him. He wasn't really sure why he had agreed to sit down or what on Earth he could have in common with an escaped criminal. Unlike Cinder, this man had earned every day of his imprisonment and had unjustly escaped. He had resigned himself to the silence when neither of them had said anything more. That was fine with Kai. His thoughts had drifted back to Cinder. And the fact that she was clearly sleeping alone. Good.

"You're welcome, by the way."

Kai started. "Excuse me?"

"I said, you're welcome, _Your Majesty_."

Kai didn't know what to say, having trouble peeling his gaze away from the stars to focus on the conversation. Carswell Thorne raised an eyebrow after noting the silence.

"Listen," he said, "it looks like we're going to be around each other for a while, so we're going to have to drop some of your fancy titles. It's going to be exhausting to call you Your Majesty or Your Highness all the time. Can we just go with 'Kai'?"

Kai cleared his throat, recovering. "Oh, yes, that would be fine. I – I don't really mind. We're not really in a—um—formal setting here anyway."

"Excellent. As you know, I'm Carswell Thorne, but you can call me Thorne or Captain."

Now it was Kai's turn to raise an eyebrow. "But you're a cadet."

"Correction. I _was_ a cadet. In case you didn't notice while you were busy being unconscious, you've been brought aboard _my_ ship."

"A ship you stole."

Thorne didn't miss a beat. "Details, details." He said airily, waving his hand in the air as if stealing a ship was about as common as eating breakfast every day. "If I hadn't stolen this ship, Cinder and I wouldn't have escaped your prison, and you would be married to Queen Levana right now. Which brings us right back to my initial comment – _you're welcome_."

Kai hated to admit it, but Thorne was right. At the end of the day, Thorne's ship had been crucial to Cinder's escape, and he supposed Thorne's company had been crucial to Cinder's success in evading the authorities as well. Since he'd managed to evade the law for quite some time, he'd probably given Cinder some tips. And, he supposed that he did owe Thorne some credit for helping Cinder kidnap him. A fact that he was still getting used to.

"I—I guess your reasoning makes sense. It's just a little hard for me to turn my mentality about criminals around in only one evening."

Thorne laughed. "I'll expect a full pardon by the time this is all over."

Kai grimaced. Of course he did. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves yet."

Thorne was still grinning, but then he lifted his arms up in an almost surrender. "Alright, I'll let you make your own decision about me. I'm confident you will come to the same conclusion. Just let me know when I'm free to go. So, you got a mistress back home?"

"I—what? No!" Kai said, feeling offended at the suggestion and caught off guard by the abrupt change in topic. "Isn't that normal for royalty?" asked Thorne, but he was looking at Kai curiously, not accusingly.

"I'm technically still engaged," Kai managed to mumble coherently. What a stupid response.

"Oh come _on_ , it's obvious that someone in your position would have women fawning all over him. And being engaged to Queen Levana would likely make _any_ man eager to – "

"I _don't_ have a mistress. And I never did," interrupted Kai, trying to regain the conversation.

"Why not?" asked Thorne, still looking curious.

Kai shrugged. "There's a lot of reasons," he said, not wanting to share all of his personal thoughts with a complete stranger. When he was growing up, he had initially been excited about the prospect of having so many girls at his beck and call. He had even developed a bit of an ego at how they swooned at his appearances on press tours with his father. But the more he met these girls, the more he realized that none of them were really interested in him at all. It was more the idea of him that they liked. Or the prestige of being in the presence of a prince. Even when his father had invited honored guests and aristocrats to the palace and they had brought along their daughters, Kai had found it hard to make a connection with any of them. Everyone just seemed so fake. He sighed. He didn't need a mistress. He could just invite any one of those 200,000 fangirls to the palace at any time. The idea made him feel a bit sick.

He turned his attention back to Thorne. "I'm sure you've had plenty, though."

Thorne grinned again. "Me? Nah, I'm a one-woman kind of guy."

"I'm sure you are," said Kai, not even attempting to hide his doubt. He was sure that Carswell Thorne was quite the ladies man. But instead of responding, Thorne just kept grinning, and Kai was amazed at how anyone could be so confident.

"So…" he trailed off, eager to change the subject. "How's Cinder?"

"You mean, how's Cinder or _how's Cinder_?" he drawled, using the same flippant wink that Kai had memorized from his prison photo. His temper began to boil.

"I mean, was she feeling any better when you left her?"

"Oh I'd say she's definitely feeling _a lot_ better." He winked again.

"Are you even capable of being serious about something?"

"Are you even capable of _not_ being serious about something?" Thorne retorted, this time sounding a bit less confident and bit more annoyed.

Kai sighed loudly, growing exasperated. He was the ruler of a country. He had handled annoying politicians before and even put up with Queen Levana. He would not allow this man to irritate him. And he was annoyed with himself for being so sensitive, anyway. Carswell Thorne just ticked him off and he knew why. He'd been with Cinder this whole time.

"I just want to make sure that she feels better," he said, trying to sound calm and collected.

"You didn't seem to care a few hours ago."

Kai stiffened. "I did care. I've always cared."

"You have an interesting way of showing it," said Thorne, for the first time not looking as though he was teasing. "Cinder has been through a lot trying to get you out of Levana's grasp, and you've just made it harder for her every step of the way."

"I know she's been through a lot – "

Thorne interrupted him. "Do you? I don't really think you have any idea of what she's been through. Did she tell you everything that we've done in the past month?"

"Well, no—"

"I didn't think so." Thorne pulled his feet off the dash and crossed his arms.

Kai tried again. "Look, I really do care about Cinder. Maybe I wasn't able to show that so much before, but now that things have changed, it's—"

"It's pretty convenient, now that she's a princess," Thorne interrupted again.

Kai glared at Thorne, even though he couldn't see that he was doing so. He hadn't considered that maybe Cinder would take his newly professed feelings as a result of her being Princess Selene. No, he had liked her way before he knew anything about her. He had liked her even when he knew she was Lunar. But now he didn't have to worry about her possibly having manipulated him. He knew she hadn't. And he didn't care about the things that she was. He just wanted _her_. "That's not important to me."

Another sly grin spread up Thorne's face and Kai fought down the urge to punch it off of his smug face. "Of course it's not. Well, I care about Cinder, too. And I've cared about her since I've known her, regardless of her status." He got up to his feet so that he was standing almost directly over Kai. "So you better get your priorities straight."

Kai looked up at him, surprised. He hadn't expected Thorne to sound so protective. But he also hadn't expected Thorne to say that he cared about Cinder like that. But in all fairness, Kai hadn't really explicitly stated that he _liked_ Cinder. Maybe Thorne meant that he only cared about her as friend, and thought Kai meant the same thing. But before he could form a coherent thought on how to phrase his feelings for Cinder more precisely to the man who stood above him, Thorne had grabbed his cane and was walking away. Stopping briefly by the doorway, he drawled, "I better get back to _Her Highness_ in case she wakes up again. But do make yourself at home, Kai. It's been a pleasure."

Kai sat back, once again feeling defeated. He used to think he was smooth and even a pretty accomplished flirt, but he knew that he was no competition at all compared to Thorne's undying confidence and charisma. He still didn't have a clear idea of the relationship between Cinder and Thorne either. But he did know that they had a bigger history than he and Cinder did, and the thought still made him feel miserable.


	4. Chapter 4

Cinder woke up to a rhythmic breathy sound, and it took her a few seconds to realize that it was someone snoring. She paused, temporarily confused, as her brain tried to pull her out of morning fogginess. She began to replay last night's events. The escape from the palace. Torturing Sybil. Levana's attacks. Kissing Kai. _Kissing Kai!_ Scrunching her face into her pillow and pulling it in tight, she couldn't help but grin, almost letting out a squeal of delight. She'd grieved Levana's attacks enough last night – to the point of utter exhaustion. She would allow herself a few moments of giddiness before returning to reality. But reality came back quicker than she expected in the form of another loud snore. She shot up to a sitting position in bed, eyes wide open. Someone was snoring in her room.

She pulled herself out of the bottom bunk and stood, stretching, as she craned her neck up toward the top bunk. For a brief second, she thought the male form huddled in the blankets was Kai, and her heart leapt. But then she realized that the hair was too light and well-kempt, even after being slept on. It was Thorne _._ Confused, her eyes did a quick sweep of the room, and she soon recognized the quarters as Thorne's instead of her own. She yanked on his covers.

"Uh?" came his groggy voice.

"What are we doing?" she demanded.

"Uh? Cress?" said Thorne, sounding confused.

"What? Thorne, it's Cinder."

Thorne opened his eyes and for a second looked hopeful, then his features became complacent and tired again. He rolled onto his back and stretched his arms lazily over his head. "I was hoping that maybe those drops would have already kicked in." He sighed. "But I still can't see anything."

"Thorne, focus."

"On what? What's going on?" This time, he sounded annoyed.

"Thorne, why are we sleeping in the same room?"

He yawned. "Don't tell me you didn't have a good time last night, darling."

Cinder huffed and rolled her eyes, even if she knew Thorne couldn't see it. He rolled to his side to face her again and his lips quirked into a faint side grin. Then he pulled the covers back over himself a bit more. "Stop freaking out, Cinder. You're doing too much of that lately."

"What do you mean?" she asked, feeling a bit self-conscious.

"Look, last night you were pretty upset and wouldn't calm down so I took you here and sat with you until you fell asleep."

"Oh," she said dumbly, feeling a bit silly for having raised her voice just a few seconds ago. "Thanks. That was really nice, I guess."

"Really nice is my middle name," he drawled, still grinning. "What's got you so nervous anyway?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing, huh?"

In one swift movement, he pulled the covers back completely and jumped down to the floor. "Where are you?" he asked and held out his hands for her and she grabbed them instinctively. He didn't tower over her like Wolf, but he still had to lean down as he tilted his face closer to hers. "Are you sure you're not just disappointed that these dreamy blue eyes aren't copper?" he whispered, a laugh etched all over his face.

Cinder would have blushed if she were able and tried to come up with a clever response. She was still too giddy to even be irritated at his teasing.

"I—"

She was cut off as the door creaked open and she turned to see Cress in the doorway, staring at them with an expression that Cinder couldn't quite place. Thorne pulled his hands away and stepped back, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Breakfast is ready, if you want," said Cress, and walked out the door again, shutting it a bit hastily so it made a slight bang.

Thorne turned back to Cinder. "Lead the way. We can talk more about Prince Charming later."

As they made their way to the galley, Cinder couldn't help but think how lucky she had really been to have landed in Thorne's prison cell while trying to escape New Beijing Prison. Granted, it had taken her a few weeks to be able to stand him, but she knew that under all his teasing, arrogant, and carefree behavior, he was still a pretty good guy. When she thought he was dead, she had missed him more than she would ever admit. And now, despite being blind, he still had that same happy-go-lucky attitude that she had come to cherish. He could certainly still be a pain, but his attitude always made even the worst of situations seem a little less dim.

Upon entering the galley, she saw Kai sitting at the table, already eating some oatmeal. Her heart swelled a bit. "Good morning!" she said, grinning. Kai lit up a bit, offering her a smile in return. "How are you feeling?" he said, moving to make a bit of room next to him at the table.

Thorne came up behind her and put his arm around her in a tight side-hug. "The princess and I just woke up and I daresay she's doing better than yesterday!"

Cinder smiled but peeled herself away from Thorne and made her way to Kai. But as she sat down, she noticed that Kai had stopped smiling and was now glaring a bit, though it looked like he was trying to hide it. Before she could ask him what was wrong, Wolf interrupted her thoughts. "I'm glad you're doing better. We need to talk and it's important that we are all clear in our heads right now." She looked up, staring at him. She hadn't even noticed that he was there. She glanced around the rest of the room and noticed Cress sitting at other corner of the table, pushing a bowl of oatmeal in front of Thorne, who was settling himself into the chair next to her. She made a mental note that she would have to work harder to adjust to Kai's presence on their ship and couldn't have eyes only for him. She needed to be alert, now more than ever.

"What's going on?" she asked Wolf.

"I've been watching the newsfeeds all morning. It looks like we're going to have to delay our arrival to Luna." The look on his face made Cinder cringe. She knew there was probably no other news that he would be less willing to share. He wanted to get back to Luna more than anyone. According to their plan, they were supposed on arrive on Luna in less than twenty-four hours.

"No," said Kai firmly, straightening up next to her. "We can't delay."

"Kai, you don't even know why we have to delay. Let the man speak," said Thorne. Cress poked his arm and practically whispered " _Your Majesty_ , Thorne." He poked her back. "Stop worrying, Cress, his royal highness and I had a good chat last night. We're on a first name basis, now, aren't we?" he responded, turning his head in Kai's direction. Kai bristled next to Cinder, but didn't say anything. A good chat? It was hard for her to imagine Kai and Thorne having much in common.

"Watch this vid," said Wolf, turning in his chair to face the netscreen behind the table. He pushed the button and the screen flicked on, paused to a news anchorwoman looking frazzled. "Feed on," he muttered. The woman came back to life.

 _"After the widespread attacks that ravaged Planet Earth yesterday, the Lunar Queen has managed to evade capture in the Eastern Commonwealth after all countries in the union declared a State of War. Royal Advisor to His Majesty Emperor Kaito, Konn Torin, who has temporarily assumed the role as the leader of the Eastern Commonwealth, issued a statement this morning."_ The vid changed to a small room with a large desk and portrait window, and Cinder recognized it as Kai's office. She glanced at Kai, and he was watching intently, expectantly. Konn Torin sat at the desk – Kai's desk. Cinder took another spoon of her oatmeal, thoughtful.

" _After the Emperor was kidnapped, I had a brief conversation with her Majesty myself, and it became clear that we could no longer reach common ground. Unfortunately she was able to leave the Eastern Commonwealth airspace before we were able to apprehend her once the attacks began. We are doing everything in our power to protect the people of the Commonwealth in wake of this news. Everyone is advised to stay inside and lock all doors while evacuations are in progress."_ He paused and glanced down at his notes briefly _. "In regards to the capture of His Majesty Emperor Kaito, we want the people of Earth to be aware of one important fact. This kidnapping occurred by none other than Linh Cinder, the cyborg lunar fugitive who has also evaded capture over the past month with ex-military cadet Carswell Thorne. This was not something that the New Beijing Palace was able to foresee or prevent, and it is because of this simple reason that Queen Levana has attacked Earth. Therefore, we are re-assessing our priorities, as it has become clear that Levana was just looking for an excuse to start a war. We have not received any ransom information at this time and therefore cannot completely assume that the kidnapping was done with malintent. Knowing that Linh Cinder has defied the Lunar Queen thus far, we are taking into consideration that perhaps her intent is to help rather than hurt our beloved Emperor. While the capture of Linh Cinder and the return of our Emperor remains a great priority, we ask that the people of Earth do not harm anyone aboard the Rampion until we can determine their true motives."_

Konn Torin then launched into a detailed account of the palace security breach during the time of Kai's kidnapping, but Wolf paused the feed. Kai looked a bit confused. "He thinks you might be helping me?" he asked, turning to Cinder.

Cinder tried not to look sheepish. She had forgotten that of course, he had been unconscious during her conversation with Torin. "He was the one who told me and Iko about the tracking device in your ear. I also told him that I had Princess Selene with me and that we would keep you safe."

"And he believed you?!"

"We didn't really give him much choice…but yeah…I guess he must have trusted us a little if he was willing to tell us about your tracking device."

Kai frowned. "But what does this have to do with our plan? Why do we have to delay going to Luna?"

Wolf turned to face him. "Levana is no longer on Earth. If she left Earth not too long after we did, then her ship shouldn't be too far behind us. She'll be arriving back on the moon today as well. None of you have ever been on Luna for one of her arrivals, have you?"

Cress shook her head. "No one's been on Luna except me. But even when I was younger, I was always kept down in the lava tunnels. I never really got out to see much of anything." Cinder caught Thorne giving her leg a squeeze below the table as she spoke.

"That's what I thought," continued Wolf. "Whenever the Queen arrives on Luna, even if she's just been on a small vacation for a few days, she makes it into this great, big fanfare. There's a big parade, people come out on the streets, etc. Security is on high-alert, and everyone is out of their homes. There's no way we'd be able to sneak in."

Kai frowned. "Wouldn't that make for a great diversion?"

"No," said Wolf, "they send these flares into the sky to announce her arrival all day. Everyone will be looking into the atmosphere all day to either spot the flares or her ship, so any other ship flying in would probably even be recorded by royal guards. I'm sure the Queen doesn't expect us to go to the Luna, but I'm sure she would notice any suspicious activity…particularly from a non-lunar ship. I already had Iko run some statistics and it looks like the probability is just too high for us to be spotted right now. It's best to wait until she's back in Artemisia and work resumes as usual."

Kai groaned, exasperated. "There has to be something we can do. We cannot just sit here and do nothing."

"I'm the last person in this _galaxy_ that wants to delay getting to Luna. Scarlet is up there." He winced, saying her name. "But we'd be walking into a suicide mission. We have to time it just right. We're going to need to delay or we're all going to die or be captured and all this will have been for nothing."

Thorne looked curious. "How long do you suggest we wait?"

Wolf considered. "It'll take her one day to get there, and one more day for the welcome events to blow over. We might be able to consider sneaking in two to three days from now."

"What are we doing to do until then?" Cress chimed in.

Thorne looked up, almost delighted. "I think we can find some things to keep us busy."

Kai scowled.

Wolf looked around. "We definitely have a lot of things to plan in the meantime. Everyone can practice their fighting skills as well. But for now, why don't we just take a break? I know everyone is still tired from all the events from last night, and none of us have really gotten much of a break in the last few weeks. We need to replenish our energy."

"I agree," said Cinder, pulling herself up from the table. She chewed on her lip, not entirely convinced of this change to their original plan, but didn't have any other ideas to offer. "If we can't go anywhere, we might as well relax a bit."

Cress was trying to smile weakly, but Thorne was the only one who actually looked happy about this plan. "This is the perfect time for us to all get to know each other a little better," he said, and Cinder recognized his grin that meant he was thinking of something perhaps a little devious. This time, Kai very obviously glared at him, though he quickly recovered when Cinder turned towards him. If she wasn't mistaken, Kai's mood swings were directly correlated to Thorne's comments. But why? She shook the feeling off and went to start cleaning up from breakfast. A small break would be great.


	5. Chapter 5

Kai prepared all morning. He used the ship's size to his advantage as he went through the different rooms aboard and decided which spaces best suited his plan. He even spent some time sorting through different cargo boxes that seemed to be strewn all over the floor near the Medbay. He found a few useful items, but he mostly found curious objects that he assumed were part of the stolen goods that the military had been unable to recover during Thorne's capture. When some creepy dolls stared up at him in one particularly large box, he decided to move on.

Despite his anger at breakfast, he had decided early on to ignore Thorne as much as possible and instead focus on the task at hand. But it didn't matter in the end. He realized pretty quickly that Thorne wasn't purposely out looking for him. In fact, he didn't make any effort at all to find or talk to Kai. After breakfast, Cress had taken his hand and led him out of the galley. He'd seen them a few times as he bustled around the ship, but they hadn't interacted with Kai much. They seemed lost in conversation whenever he would run into them. One time he even saw them with cards spread out in front of them, and it seemed like Thorne was teaching Cress a game. The idea of a blind man playing cards had made him laugh, but then he had immediately felt guilty and kind of like a jerk. He should really be giving him some credit. Kai had no idea what it was like to be blind, or really have any disability for that matter. He briefly wondered how Thorne had become blind in the first place, since Kai didn't remember that detail from any of his prison information. The thought of his prison photo winking up at him made him cringe in disgust again.

But the Carswell Thorne that sat with Cress seemed different. He seemed gentler with her and much more relaxed, as if she was able to melt away some of the cockiness that always exuded off his face whenever Kai was near him. And the more he studied the two of them together, the more he felt convinced that Cress must have a painfully large crush on Thorne. She was so attentive to him. And the blush that crept across her face every time Kai had walked by made Kai feel like he was disrupting something intimate. One time he had just been in the corridor and he saw her face as she stared at Thorne in front of her. It was one he had seen many times on the faces of other girls. Desire. _Longing._ No wonder she'd seemed jealous when Thorne spent the night with Cinder.

The thought of Thorne with Cinder brought him back to reality. As he stared at himself in the mirror of the ship's bathroom, he tried to make himself feel confident. _This was going to work. This was going to be great._

He had even—reluctantly—conferred with Iko immediately after breakfast. It hadn't taken him long to convince her to be in his presence, though at first she had almost died with giggles. Cinder had been suspicious too, but then Iko insisted furiously that she leave when Kai had requested a private audience with her. It had been useful. She knew more about Cinder than anyone. After squealing a lot and saying some inappropriate things, she gave him some pointers, and it didn't take long for Kai to realize that Cinder's best friend was radically different from her. They made a funny yet endearing pair.

When their conversation had drifted to other topics, he also learned that Iko was probably the leader of the Carswell Thorne Fanclub.

"He was the one who got me this body!" she had gushed. "Can you believe it?"

"Really?" he asked, not sure what to say. Although he was getting used to being around her and all her hyperactivity, he was still having a hard time getting used to the fact she was still an android. An android with the most human personality he'd ever encountered.

"Well," she rushed on, "I know it's not as nice now, but that's because of those stupid Lunars. While you were unconscious, we were attacked, and well, I tried to save Cinder and my body was mutilated in the process. I promise, though, your Majesty, that my body was faaaabulous!" She had done a little twirl, and Kai had almost felt a blush coming on as he was forced to gaze up and down her feminine body. The body was indeed a bit mangled around the neck and shoulders, but he knew that most men would be delighted to have her as an escort.

"It was all the Captain!" she continued to gush. "He was so brave! He saved Cress, and he brought me this body all the way across the desert even though he was in complete danger! He outsmarted the traffickers, and then he even killed those Lunar Guards on the rooftop!" She sighed and fluttered her eyelashes. "And he's sooo handsome."

Yesterday she had thought _Kai_ was the handsome one.

Kai looked at himself in the mirror again, frowning at the thought. _Pull yourself together, man_ , he told himself firmly. You are becoming a crazy, unreasonable person! This is an android we are talking about. An android! You are not attracted to androids and you have no reason to be jealous that she thinks Thorne is so great. This is not about Thorne. This is about Cinder, and Cinder alone.

He smoothed his hair back after he realized that he had once again been anxiously raking his hands through his hair again. He adjusted his shirt a bit as well. Iko had shown him where the extra military clothes were after he decided that staying in his wedding clothes for the next two days was not an option. It wasn't his best look, but he felt comfortable and he knew that he looked good anyway. He looked good, and he was ready, and this was it.

He exited the bathroom and rounded the corridor in the direction of Cinder's room. It was already past noon and he wanted to catch her before she decided to go eat lunch. He reached her room, and saw that the door was propped open. Standing in the doorway, he could see her sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring at her metal arm, seemingly in deep concentration. He cleared his throat. She jumped.

"Kai!" she exclaimed, shaking off the dazed look on her face.

"What were you doing?" he asked curiously. She flushed. "Nothing, nothing. How…can I help you?"

She seemed nervous again, and he hoped that it was his presence that was making her nervous.

"Got any plans this afternoon?"

"What do you mean?"

"I wanted to try again, and we never really got the chance, so…" he took a deep breath, trying to stop his mumbling. _You kissed. She backed away because of Levana, not you. She_ likes _you._ "…might I have the pleasure of accompanying you to lunch?"

She hesitated briefly, a look crossing over her face that he couldn't quite place, and he prepared himself for the same feeling of rejection he always got every time Cinder turned him down. Stars, he'd almost gotten used to it. But then she beamed up at him. His heart flipped. It was all the assurance he needed.

"In fact, would you want to spend the whole afternoon with me…on a date?" He put on his most brilliant smile.

"You want to go on a date on this ship?" She asked incredulously, though she continued to smile. "Isn't it a bit…crowded?"

"Well," he responded thoughtfully, "it's not really an ideal setting, and it's certainly no palace grounds, but hey, we're supposed to be resting and relaxing and 'getting to know each other', right? I would really like to get to know _you_ better."

She was still smiling. This was good.

"I would like to get to know you better too."

He relaxed, feeling happier than he had all day. "I've made some plans for us, so I can give you a few minutes to freshen up if you like and then we'll be ready to go."

"Freshen up?" she asked, her face falling. "I—I don't have anything else to wear. I'm probably not the type of girl you're used to." She clapped a hand over her mouth and looked at him with wide eyes. "Sorry! I didn't mean to say that last part out loud."

"No, I'm sorry," he blurted, realizing his mistake. "I didn't mean to imply anything. I know girls like to get ready for dates and I'm a guy so I don't know what that entails and it stupidly slipped my mind again that we're on a ship and of course there's nothing else to wear..." Kai hated himself for rambling like an idiot.

When her face didn't seem to brighten, he did a little spin, pausing dramatically in his best faux fashion model pose. "See? Anyone can make these military outfits look good. Soon they'll be all the rave."

But her face fell even more. "You look great, Kai, but I—I mean I know that maybe we got over the mechanic part and the Lunar part and even the cyborg part but I'm just a normal person and you—you're a prince—an Emperor !"

"You're technically a princess."

She winced."You know what I mean."

He stepped closer and took her hand into his. With his other hand, he brushed a few strands of her hair over her ear. When she looked up at him, her face had softened. She looked so vulnerable. He leaned close to her and felt her hand shake slightly. His heartbeat quickened. "I thought I made it clear yesterday," he murmured into her ear, "that I like you just the way you are." He brushed his lips on her hair, and then let them linger on her forehead. "I am happy to demonstrate again if you like."

Cinder laughed and pulled away to look up at him, and he was surprised to find how much he wanted to close the gap between them again. Instead, he just smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Really. I just want to be Kai today." He wanted desperately for her to accept. For her to understand. "And I just want you to be Cinder."

"You really planned a date on a ship for me." It was a confirmation, not a question.

"For us," Kai amended. "It's the least I could do after imprisoning you and then chasing you around the galaxy."

"Well you finally got me," she said, her lips quirking. "Though after that I guess I shouldn't give you the time of day."

He pouted, pretending to be hurt. "How did I know you would end up being the lost princess I was looking for all along?"

She smacked his side playfully. "After all this asking, this better be the best date of my life." He held his hands up. "Hey, I've been kidnapped and don't have all the resources I'm normally used to. My skills can't be judged on only this one date."

"I'm sure it will be great," she said.

"Well then, Linh-mei," he said, extending his hand to hers. "Shall we?"


	6. Chapter 6

She tried to keep her thoughts straight, but a jumbled mess of emotions kept flooding Cinder as she walked next to Kai in anticipation of their "date." So many thoughts and memories swept through her all at once. Memories of Kai visiting her booth at the New Beijing market for the first time criss-crossed with vivid pictures of Kai leaning close to her in the palace elevator. She remembered feeling so flustered by Kai before, and yet even now he was able to make the different chemicals in her body change enough that the scrawling writing would pop up in her vision now and then. It warned her to breathe deeply and calm down, and she was glad that at least her surgeons hadn't thought to include some sort of speaker that could alert the people around her to what she thinking.

Walking next to him now felt almost normal, almost like he was someone she had known for a long time. In reality she barely knew him. Had it really only been about a month? Most of that time wasn't even spent with him, but rather escaping him – or at least his military. But she'd been watching his actions so closely on the netscreens over the last several weeks that it felt like she'd been near him all along. But reality with him had been much more of an emotional rollercoaster. She remembered the hurt she felt when he hadn't trusted her when she tried to rescue him from Levana. The nerves that had almost overpowered her as she tried to get him to understand who she really was. The relief she'd felt at him finally knowing the truth – and his acceptance of the truth. Her lips that seemed to still burn from their first real kiss. Technically, it was their second kiss, but the one from last night was the only one that really counted. She didn't have anything else to hide anymore. It was just her. And maybe, with Kai being temporarily relieved of his duties as an Emperor, he could just be him too.

She also felt conflicted about the unfortunate turn of events after Wolf's news. It was so important for them to work as quickly as they could to stop Levana so that the war against Earth could end. But if Cinder felt sad at all, she knew it could be nothing compared to how much Wolf was hurting, and she herself wanted to get Scarlet back almost as bad as she wanted to overthrow Levana. She felt guilty that she now got to spend time with Kai, while all Wolf could do was grieve Scarlet. When all this was over, would that be her or Kai? She didn't entertain the thought for more than half a second. There still wasn't room to think about a future between her and Kai. She had meant what she'd said to him in his office.

He was the Emperor of a country. But now she was the heir to a throne. Surely that at least pushed her into the same class as Kai, even if only by technical definitions. But Cinder still had no idea what it meant to be a princess, to be royalty. Kai had probably gone to parties his whole life and mingled with other royalty. Was that the type of person he was expected to marry? Cinder's heart reeled. What was she doing to herself? They hadn't even made it to the moon yet. Who knew if anyone of them would even survive this war. And if they both did, well, would she be stuck back up on Luna forever?

She tried to push some of her negative thoughts out and stay present in the moment. At least Kai seemed to be in a better mood than breakfast. He had certainly surprised her with this offer, but she couldn't help feeling excitement and even joyful anticipation at the thought of spending a whole day with him. And considering that she'd never been on a date before, she didn't really know what to expect.

He slid his hand into hers. It was a gentle and assuring gesture, and the ease with which he did it gave her butterflies. He had touched her hands a few times before, but it was so new without any gloves – without any hiding. Her bare skinned burned even more at his touch now. When she clasped her fingers around his in return, he gave her a quick squeeze.

"You okay?" he asked, turning to look at her. She looked back at him, temporarily dazed by all she had been thinking about in her fight to return to reality.

"Yeah."

"You seem like you're somewhere else."

"Sorry. There's just a lot of things on my mind."

"Anything in particular?" He seemed genuinely curious.

"Just, you know…it's hard to think that we're going to go on a date while Levana is destroying Earth and all these people are dying." It was only a partial lie. But there was no way she was going to tell him everything else that she'd just been thinking about.

His eyes darkened a bit. "You're right, it is hard to think about anything else."

"You seem to be doing okay."

"Well," he said thoughtfully, "it's not that I'm completely fine about everything, it's just that…well, for the first time in my life I don't have anyone watching me or telling me what to do. I can just be myself for a while. And if we have half of today to spend together then I want to focus my energy on feeling good about that. Levana's already doing her damage. She can't steal this moment too."

"Unless someone attacks the Rampion right now." Cinder felt like such a downer. But Kai didn't seem fazed.

"Considering that you evaded capture for this entire time, I think it's rather unlikely that at this precise moment someone will find the ship. Besides, I've been planning all morning." He blushed a little and Cinder couldn't help thinking how handsome he looked when he was flustered.

"What have you been planning, the date?" asked Cinder.

"Not really so much the date. I mean, it's sort of a typical first date, but more so I've been working on adjusting some…environmental elements." He looked rather pleased with himself and Cinder couldn't help wonder what he could possibly mean by "environmental elements."

"So I've been wondering," he continued, "is there a way for you to just…turn off the netscreen in your head? Or at least, maybe just put it on a sleep mode?" She laughed. "Sleep mode?"

"I mean, just so we don't have any distractions. It'll be hard enough with other people always milling around on this ship. And since we've known each other there have just always been interruptions every time we've been near each other."

"Life always has interruptions, Kai."

"I know, but how many other times will we have no responsibilities and just time on our hands? How about it? Just you and me? Sleep mode?" He blushed again. "I mean, with the netscreen."

"I don't have to pull up any newsfeeds or anything, if that's what you mean."

"Okay," he said, sounding relieved, "then let's continue."

They had only gone down a few corridors during their conversation and he paused in front of a door.

She peered up at him, suspicious. "Wait. The date is…in your room?"

"Yes, I thought it would be good to have some privacy. Like I said, no distractions." He smiled charmingly at her, but she hesitated. He laughed and seemed to recognize her hesitation. "Give me a break! It's not what you think."

He opened the door and beckoned for her to enter. "After you, my lady." He made a grand flourishing gesture and slight bow which, despite his borrowed military uniform, made him look like the Emperor he really was. And the Emperor was inviting her into his room. She inhaled deeply and stepped in.

What she saw nearly took her breath away.

Kai had transformed the room. Though the room he slept in was by blueprint and design identical to Cinder's room, it didn't look at all like the drab, empty military quarters she was used to. It looked completely different. Electrical wires hung everywhere, stretching from the top of the bunk on one side to above the door where she was standing. The wires were twisted and intertwined with what looked like emergency lighting strips, making intricate patterns all across the ceiling and almost covering them in a blanket of shimmering light. Since the room was so small, the effect of the lighting just made it that much more impressive. One of the emergency lighting strips was wound across itself, making the shape of a very clumsy looking star. Hanging from the wiring were little round objects that Cinder couldn't quite place, but she imagined that whatever they were, they were supposed to resemble a type of decorative globe that she had only seem a few times in the gardens of the rich. It was likely something that Thorne had brought on the ship in one of his boxes. A painting hung from the back wall, and she was sure it was another one of Thorne's items. The desk that was normally pushed to the back of the wall had been moved to the center of the room, with barely enough space for it between the bunk bed and the wall. Kai had draped a blanket over it, in what looked like a makeshift tablecloth. Plates and silverware from the kitchen were placed on top. The centerpiece also caught her eye. There were little wires sitting in a jar that wound up and out and shaped just as though they were part of a bouquet. A bouquet of flowers for her.

Kai stood there, just watching her take it in. He seemed really nervous, as if waiting for her approval. It wasn't really beautiful, but it was breathtaking. No one besides Iko had ever done anything nice for Cinder before. And certainly no one had done anything romantic for her before. In retrospect, Kai _had_ given her those beautiful gloves. That was certainly romantic and thoughtful. But this beat it. This wasn't something fancy that he could buy, nor something that he could have someone else set up for him. He couldn't use his power or influence to alter this date. This was just him, trying to use whatever resources he could to create something romantic. He had taken something that was normally considered ugly and shown her that it could be something lovely. It was what she had never dared to hope that someone would think about her cyborg parts. The way that even _she_ couldn't think about them yet. He had invested his time into doing this for her. Just so he could surprise her. And that meant more than anything else that he could have done.

"Wow," she breathed. "You did this for me?"

"Iko gave me some tips." He shrugged, but she could tell that he was trying to hide a proud smile. Cinder felt like she was glowing brighter than the lighting.

"Thank you," she said. _It's perfect_ , she wanted to add, making a mental note to thank Iko as well.

"I'm so glad you like it. Now please, have a seat." He moved to the table and held out one of the chairs for her. After he slid her chair into place, he had to climb onto the bunk bed mattress just to get around the table and reach his own chair on the other side.

"Lunch is served!" he called out, a grin spreading on his face. Cinder thought to ask why he was almost yelling, but at that moment Iko came bustling in.

She had changed back into the waitress uniform that she had used during their palace mission. She carried a large bowl of food in one hand and a pitcher of water in the other. She was also grinning from ear to ear.

"Your Majesty!" she gushed, "it looks _so_ beautiful! Cinder, isn't the Emperor just _so_ romantic?"

Kai grinned harder, but she could tell that he was slightly embarrassed by Iko's flattery. "He is," she said, and suddenly Kai looked more sure of himself. He shot her his signature prince charming grin. She melted.

"What's on the menu?" she asked.

Kai's face fell slightly, but only a little. "Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much variety in the food selections on this ship. I couldn't really come up with anything that you probably haven't already eaten."

"We didn't exactly have time to stock up on dim sum or wontons while we were busy rescuing you," she said dryly. Kai waved away her comment. "It's fine, I'm here for the conversation, not the food." Cinder just raised her eyebrows in mock disbelief.

Iko sat down the bowl and lingered almost too closely to the table, still grinning from ear to ear. "Thanks, Iko," said Kai, giving her a knowing look.

"We don't need someone to serve us, by the way," said Cinder, flashing a smile at Iko. "I mean, it's nice, but you know that you don't have to serve him just because he's the Emperor. No offense, Kai."

"Oh no, no," Iko drawled, "it was actually my idea to act as the wait staff. It gives more of a date effect, don't you think? At least, if I were on a date at a restaurant I'd want to have some wait staff…" She trailed off, gazing at the lights dreamily as if she herself were about to go on a date as well.

"Okay, well thank you so much for helping out," said Cinder. "I'll see you later."

Iko tried to hide her pout as she turned to walk out the door. "I expect to hear every detail later!" she yelled behind her as she disappeared into the corridor, shutting the door.

As they ate, it didn't take long for her and Kai to fall into deep discussion. The ease with which they conversed almost took her by surprise. She remembered when he had told her that she was "kind of easy to talk to" and she couldn't help but think the same thing about him. It was mostly Cinder who talked, as many of Kai's actions had been broadcast for the world to see. She did learn several new things about Levana, though, and all that she was capable of. She also caught a glimpse into what his daily routine was like; he was part of so many committees and meetings and formal events. It seemed exhausting.

Cinder animatedly told Kai about everything that had happened since she had been put in prison, with Kai widening his eyes at some of the unbelievable parts and darkening at the sadder ones. She tried her best to tell him what she learned about Scarlet's grandmother, but left out the part about her cyborg transformation below the hanger on the farm. It had been enough to experience it with Thorne once. Maybe someday she would feel more prepared to talk about it, but she didn't want to think about it now. Kai's gaze barely left hers as she talked. While his stare sometimes made her dizzy, she dared herself to always look back at him, and only ever saw a beautiful warmth in his copper brown eyes. She understood now why he hadn't wanted any interruptions. They'd never before had the chance to just _be_.

When she tried to tell Kai about what little she knew of Cress so far, he interrupted her.

"I have a theory about Cress," he said.

"What theory?"

"I'm pretty sure she's got a thing for Carswell Thorne."

"Are you sure?" she asked, curious. She'd noticed that they acted a bit…couple-y…but she hadn't really stopped to think about it much.

"Well," he creased his forehead, "I guess I can't say I'm 100% sure, but I'd say as sure as I can be without her swooning right in front of him. This morning whenever I walked by, she just seemed to be completely taken by him."

"I guess it was bound to happen," Cinder confirmed.

"What do you mean?" said Kai.

"You probably haven't noticed yet since you've only been with us for a day, but Thorne is very confident and comfortable with women."

"Oh, I've noticed." Kai didn't sound too happy about noticing this, though.

Cinder bit her lip. "Well, he always talks about the effect he has on women. He does have quite the fan following on the net, I guess. Probably a bad-boy crush type of thing." Kai stared at her." It's hard to explain if you're not a girl." She rushed on, "And as much as I hate to admit it, he does have a way with words. Maybe Cress noticed."

Kai remained silent, and for the first time in their conversation it felt as though awkwardness had infiltrated in. But why?

"So, anyway…" said Cinder, pushing her plate away a bit and resting her elbows on the table. She had long since finished her food. "…back to Cress. Do you think he knows? I mean, he pretty much assumes every girl in the world will fall at his feet at first, but in my experience he usually comes around. Do you think Thorne likes her too? I haven't really had time to think about it, but I guess they did have quite a lot of time together in the desert. He's extremely protective of her. _And_ ," she held up her pointer finger as if to make a point, deep in thought, "they do hold hands a lot." The idea of Thorne falling in love seemed crazy, but at the same time made her smile.

Kai shrugged. "I'm not sure. I don't know what to think about him. He seems to have other priorities on his mind, if he does."

"Like what?"

"Well, last night when you were upset, I guess she was kind of jealous of you and Thorne…sleeping together. I mean…in the same room. Or whatever." Kai was starting to sound bitter. "If he likes Cress, why would he want to be with you and make her feel bad?"

"Wait, wait, wait." Cinder waved her hands in front of her impatiently. "First of all, Thorne and I are not sleeping together in any way, shape, or form, so please remove that horrible thought out of your brain, and second of all, what is the problem with you and Thorne anyway?"

"I'm pretty sure he likes you. Or at least, he did. He kind of gave me the impression that you two were together. Or have been."

"What!"

Kai looked at her desperately. Cinder gagged.

"Thorne and I have never been together, Kai!" The ridiculousness of this conversation was almost making her laugh out loud. And Kai's face was pretty priceless.

"Is that why you seem to get annoyed whenever he's around?"

Kai's ears turned pink but he looked at her indignantly. "What was I supposed to think? He took you to his room and then later came out all cocky and confident and arrogant and – "

"Kai, Thorne and I are just friends. I was just upset and barely remember anything from that part of the night, and when I woke up I was really confused about why I was in his room. But Thorne just teased me about _you_. He knows I like _you_." She only realized what she was saying after she said it. It should have been obvious, since she had kissed him, but saying it out loud felt different and more vulnerable.

Kai seemed to relax a little, though.

"Oh."

"He thought—he thought you liked me too. Sometimes when you made comments on TV about me, he would tease me then, too."

"I did like you! Sort of. I mean, I thought I did, and then I was so confused by you being lunar and a fugitive and a cyborg and I didn't know if you'd glamoured me so it was—it was just very confusing."

"Well, are you still confused about Thorne?" she asked.

"Well, I guess I just don't understand why he acted like he liked you and even goaded me about you while you were sleeping." Kai quickly told Cinder about some of the highlights of his conversation with Thorne at the cockpit.

Cinder frowned. _Boys_. "He's not usually like that. He's almost always upbeat. And he makes snarky comments and teases a lot but he's actually a pretty good guy. It sounds like he was intentionally trying to make you jealous."

"Well, it kind of worked."

"Look, Kai, he sort of thinks that he's a gift to all womenkind, and it can be pretty annoying, but believe me, Thorne does not like me nor think that I like him."

Kai looked appeased and some of the tension between them seemed to melt.

Well, thought Cinder, this was an interesting development, even coming from Thorne. And kind of annoying. But, Thorne did not know that her and Kai had kissed. In fact, probably no one knew. And two could play this game. As much as the idea made her gag once again, it also would be a great way to test the waters. At most, she could get back at him for treating Kai this way.

"Kai, do you trust me?" Kai looked at her, considering. "Yes...but I don't like the sound of that question. Why?" Cinder smiled up at him with mischief.

"Because Captain Carswell Thorne is about to get a taste of his own medicine."

Kai didn't seem convinced by her answer, but shrugged it off. He got up from the table and beckoned for her to do the same. When she had stood up, he slid the desk back into its corner.

"I think that's enough talk about Carswell Thorne for today," he said, rolling up his sleeves as he shot her a quick smile.

"What are we going to do now?"

"We," he said suggestively, raising his eyebrows, "are going to finish our dance. Without interruptions this time."

He extended his hand to her, palm up, and slight panic shot up through Cinder. Her last dance with Kai had ended horribly. It was almost painful to remember. She tried to divert her panic by stating the obvious. "You know I don't know any steps."

"This," he said, "is a different kind of dance." He took a step closer to her, still waiting for her to accept his outstretched hand. Cinder just stared at it.

"We don't have any music," she tried.

"We don't need any music."

He was even closer to her now, and she could feel his gaze upon her even though she stared at her feet. She knew that she would give in as soon as she met his eyes. But he dropped his hand from the air and raised the other to cup her chin. He tilted her face so she was forced to look up at him. His expression was kind, filled with longing and a hint of worry.

"We don't have to dance if you don't want to."

"It's just embarrassing, because I'm so bad and you're really good. And the last one ended in a disaster."

He used his other hand to brush her hair out of her face. "That's exactly why I thought it would be a good idea. I don't want your last memory of us together on Earth to be a bad one. I can't change that, but at least I can try to give you a new memory. Plus, I like dancing with you." He smiled and she felt herself melting. He could probably tell.

"Would it be okay to just try it for a few minutes? If you don't enjoy it, we can stop and do something else."

"Okay," she mumbled, too distracted to think about anything except his face so close to hers. He really was making an effort here.

He took her into the same stance that they had at the ball; one hand in his and the other on his shoulder. His other hand rested on her back. He hummed a tune quietly, almost under his breath, but this time the song was slow. Not like at the ball. So slow, that they barely needed to move at all. It was more like swaying. "Lights off," he said to the ship, and then the lights that he had hung up seemed to decorate the room even more. As if they were really somewhere else at a real dance. When his humming got a little more animated, he took a step out and spun her away from him. This time, without the child foot attached to her leg, she felt light and airy, and her spirits lifted. She silently thanked Dr. Erland. When he pulled her back, he pulled her in close enough that her hand naturally went up near his neck, and his hand lowered to her waist. She inhaled. He took the hand he held in his and slowly slid it back to his neck as well, and then moved his other hand down to her waist. She felt a tingle shoot up her spine, and when she dared look up at him, with his face so close to hers, she was sure he felt the same tingle.

His face was confident, kind, and gentle. He continued to hum the slow part of the tune, and after a while Cinder felt that she understood the rhythm. She moved closer to him so that she was almost resting her head on his shoulder. His lips were so close to her ear, and the humming noise, which was now just barely louder than a vibration, sent goose bumps down her spine. He continued swaying, gently rocking her to their imaginary beat.

She felt safe in his arms. This _was_ better than real dancing. She felt herself losing herself in his embrace until she really was resting her head completely on the crevice between his neck and shoulder. She didn't care what was coming next in the date. She just concentrated on the soothing sound of him breathing next to her. His steady heartbeat seemed to keep pace as they moved.

After awhile, she felt the brush of his hand through her hair. It woke her from her temporary reverie. His arms were protective around her and kept her close as she pulled back to peer at him. Then she surprised herself by giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. She expected him to kiss her back, but when she looked at him, Kai had a look of disbelief on his face.

"Linh-mei, I am _shocked_!" he said, taking one hand off her waist and holding it across his heart. "This is only our first date!"

"But – I – we – already kissed and – I thought —" Cinder stammered, trying to turn her head. But he was already cupping her face with both his hands, forcing her to look at him. He was flashing his perfect, perfect smile.

"I'm just teasing you," he said, still not letting her look away. "It's nice to see you a bit flustered, since you're always so confident."

"I'm not that confident," she said defiantly.

"Believe me, Cinder, you are. Regardless, if we had actually gone to lunch together that day in New Beijing, of course I wouldn't have kissed you already, but, considering these are special circumstances…" he trailed off, his smile widening even more.

He kissed her cheek. Then her other cheek. Then her forehead, nose, chin, and back to her cheeks again. Just when she thought he never would, he brushed his lips against hers. She felt that same tingle, and closed her eyes. He kissed her again, gently, and then pulled her back into the dancing embrace, beginning to sway again.

Cinder knew their time on the ship would come to an end very soon, but she pushed away all the worries. For now, she just wanted to freeze this moment with Kai, and stay this way as long as possible.


	7. Chapter 7

"So you're a hacker _and_ a gamer," murmured Thorne, as he laid down his hand for Cress to see. She furrowed her brow. She couldn't believe how much luck he was having without even knowing what cards were in front of him.

"Nah, more just a hacker."

"Did you know that back before technology became popular, people who used computers and stuff were made fun of? Seen as uncool?"

"Yes" she responded as she checked her cards for better luck this round. "I've actually done a lot of research on the past eras. They fascinate me."

"I do know how much you like to research." He quirked his mouth in amusement and she wanted to add that his lips fascinated her too.

"Yes, I do."

The smile he flashed her made her want to dissolve into herself and so she kept quiet, glad that he couldn't see her as she stared longingly at him. Had she not resolved herself to getting better at hiding her love for him? She would really need to practice more before his eyesight came back.

"It's funny to me that you're a hacker," he continued.

"Why?"

"I don't know, because I'm completely incapable of understanding technology. I managed to convince a guard to give me a portscreen while I was in solitary confinement. But I couldn't even figure out how to access my comms! And then you're this hacker genius who took down the entire New Beijing security system in a few minutes. I bet the Emperor still doesn't even know that was _you_!"

She felt a tinge of pride at his words.

"Well, I probably wouldn't have been able to convince a guard to give me a portscreen so it wouldn't have been very useful even if I were in jail."

He nodded. "Persuasion does tend to be one of my fortes. But I've had a lot of time to practice. You, however, have not had a lot of time to practice playing this game, and I must admit that you are a worthy opponent."

Thorne had underestimated Cress when it came to learning Royals. She had picked it up quickly and was quite gleeful each time that she won. He hadn't known, of course, that her and Little Cress had spent hours each day playing each other in computer games and simulations while she was on the satellite. Royals was just another challenge. It also helped immensely that he couldn't see, of course.

Even though she'd still lost a lot of rounds today, she was quite sure that she could hold her own in a real game of cards now. And, she had at least done some damage to Thorne's ego. He was—of course—still as confident as ever, but she didn't really mind losing anyway.

"That's how I got my calf muscles!" she joked, as she folded her hand in defeat. "I had to do lots of leg exercises after losing any game."

Thorne smirked at her. "Calf muscles? You were pretty petite the last I saw you, darling." She loved it when he called her darling. It was rare, and she knew he was joking, but it reminded her of his teasing when they had first entered the hotel room in the oasis as newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

"Well, being in orbit does have its disadvantages, I guess."

"It's not necessarily a bad thing," he responded. "It just makes you more vulnerable to sudden attacks. We should work on that, Cress." He grinned evilly and then he stood up and found her shoulders in just a few seconds. He was getting good at locating her despite his blindness. She tried to get up to meet him but instead —to her amazement and utter shock—she found her feet leaving the ground as he lifted her up and swung her over his shoulder. He held her in place by her legs as she draped behind him. Cress squealed with delight.

"See how easily I can capture you?" He turned in a circle and as they spun around she felt a surge of excitement fill her lungs as she gasped for air.

"You know, I should have thought of this in the desert. But I guess in reality it's a bit hard to maintain my balance like this when I have no focal point. Plus, petite or not, you are HEAVY!" He laughed as set her down gently. As Cress reclaimed her balance, she noticed his carefree face fall a bit.

"Any time now, eyes. Any time." He tapped his eyelids impatiently, and then rubbed his forehead.

Cress giggled. "Do you talk to them a lot?"

"I like to tell them what to do every now and then. Since the stem cells are apparently growing, I think they better know who's boss from the start. Kind of like a stubborn child."

"Do you want to have children some day?" she blurted. She didn't know why she'd said it, and the expression in his face told her that it was the wrong subject to breach at this point.

"Um. Maybe."

She was happy when he changed the subject immediately. It was getting late anyway, and she knew that their day together would soon come to an end. It seemed liked they'd been playing and talking all day, only taking breaks to eat and every once in a while check the newsfeeds for any updates. They hadn't seen anyone in hours, and she kind of wondered what they were doing. Was it rude of her to only want to spend time with Thorne?

But she was having a great time. She loved the feeling of being near him in a more normal social setting. In the desert they were fighting to survive the whole time. Thorne was getting used to his blindness, she was learning about Earth, and just when she thought they could relax, she was kidnapped. After that it had been a whirlwind too – meeting Dr. Erland, escaping the Eastern Commonwealth military, and rescuing the Emperor. She was selfishly happy for a break—and almost giddy at seeing Thorne in his more normal, playful state. It was easy to talk and joke around with him.

But she also realized that she had underestimated the ease at which Thorne and Cinder got along too. Now that they weren't in any imminent danger, it was much easier to see how close they were. She felt such a strong connection to Thorne after their week together in the desert and oasis. What kind of connection must Thorne and Cinder feel after having spent even _more_ time together—alone? While most of her net dramas had focused on passionate love at first sight, she had also seen the shows where a deep friendship blossomed into love. Could that have happened with Thorne and Cinder? She didn't dare broach the subject with him, but every once in a while she had a strong urge to ask him if anything had happened between him and Cinder. There had been a few moments on the ship already when she had wondered if their relationship was more than friendship.

After all, he had made it clear that he wasn't interested in Cress. And even though she thought Cinder and the Emperor were more likely to be an item, she didn't know if Thorne was secretly in love with Cinder too. Or maybe not so secretly? He hadn't really been subtle in his dislike for the Emperor, and he seemed to delight in making him jealous. But he was here with her and clearly not with Cinder at this moment, and that was a good thing. She cherished every second of it.

She sighed, wishing that she had a best friend to confide in about all these things. Everything seemed more complicated in her head. She called up a familiar fantasy in which Thorne was being given a medal of honor for his heroics during the great battle against Luna, and Cress was at his side as his chosen date. But this time as she waved to the imaginary audience, they chanted, "Cinder! Cinder!" instead. She frowned, not aware of when her fantasies had become more like nightmares.

She looked at Thorne, as though staring at him could give her all the answers she wanted. He sat back in his chair and stretched his arms over his head, yawning. As his shirt lifted slightly, she felt heat rising on her cheeks as she saw the beginning of his abs peek out. Yes indeed, Thorne getting his sight back would be the death of her.

"I think it's time to call it quits," said Thorne, sinking into a relaxed position in the chair, legs splayed out.

Cress knew it was true, but she wanted to think of some way to keep him here, for herself, and stay in this perfect day for just a little longer. Maybe she could think of something interesting to talk about that would keep him engaged more. Maybe she could suggest that he teach her a few defensive moves against the attackers he had mentioned earlier. Or she could just tempt him with some dessert in the galley.

But she didn't get to finish her wandering thoughts, because suddenly Cinder and Kai came in from the hallway. She almost jumped, startled at the new company that had evaded them nearly the whole day.

"Hey guys," said Cinder, looking slightly embarrassed.

Thorne sat up a little straighter.

"Cinder, how was your day?" He had a knowing smile on his face, as if they shared some sort of secret.

"It's just gotten better, Captain," she said, walking over to him. And then she sat down on his lap and threw her arms around him.

* * *

Kai gaped at her. Reeling from his incredible date with Cinder, all the warmth in his chest from just a moment before vanished instantly. She sat on Thorne's lap and twisted her hands into his hair as if it were something she did on a daily basis. Thorne, confusion etched into his features, sat frozen almost like a statue as she put her mouth next to his ear and whispered something seductively. He tried to open his mouth to reply, but she covered it with her hand, tugging playfully on his lips.

"Thorne and I would like some alone time, please," she announced, in a girly voice that Kai had certainly never heard or imagined coming out of Cinder's mouth.

"But—" Thorne stuttered. She shushed him. "Kai?"

His jaw slowly moved back into a closed position as he realized Cinder was addressing him.

Right.

He was supposed to trust her. She didn't _really_ like Thorne. She had a plan. But he could only stare at the way she ran her fingers through Thorne's hair as she sat on top of him. He didn't like this plan anymore.

His heart raced. Back in his room, he hadn't wanted to rush anything with Cinder, believing that the best relationships developed like a slow fire. But _now._

His thoughts became more convoluted and unsure. No one even knew that they were technically together. Or that they'd kissed. Everyone presumably would figure it out, but still, it was all just speculation at this point. Seeing her with someone else in this moment, he knew he didn't want to share her anymore, even if it was just _pretend_ sharing. As Cinder's fingers trailed down to graze over Thorne's neck, murderous envy raged up inside of him.

And then he was leaping over the storage crates, reaching for the chair, and pulling Cinder off of Thorne.

And he was crushing Cinder into his arms, and pulling her lips to his, and showing the whole world that Cinder belonged with _him_.

And he didn't want to take it slow anymore, and he was kissing her so passionately that from now on her eyes would be only for him, only for them, only living for one more touch of his lips against hers.

And –

"Kai?"

"Huh?"

"I _said,_ I'd like some alone time with the Captain." She looked at him pointedly.

He exhaled, startled by the intensity of his thoughts only a moment ago, and loosened the collar on his shirt to give him room to breathe. The temperature of the room seemed to have spiked several degrees in his brief mental breakdown.

Right. He looked down at Cress, who had become a brick wall glued to her chair.

"Um, Cress?" he tried.

Her eyes widened at her name and she snapped her head up to meet his gaze.

"Your Majesty?"

"I need to debrief you on some of your intel regarding Queen Levana and her plans. Maybe in the cockpit?"

"Oh. Okay."

She got up and made to walk out the door, but stopped to glance back just once to see Cinder still cooing at Thorne, who finally seemed to have lost any trace of his cocky composure. He looked almost _nervous._ This made Kai's mood improve just a bit.

Kai caught up with Cress in the corridor after a few moments. She tried to wipe away her splotchy eyes, and he gracefully tried to pretend that he hadn't seen anything. But her crestfallen face still made him wince, and he imagined that her thoughts probably hadn't been much different than his own. He'd been right to think that she had feelings for Thorne. It was obvious that she had it _bad._

Feeling a bit awkward, he tried to reach out and touch her shoulder in a reassuring way. It was hard, because they had only spoken a few words to each other since he'd been on the ship. He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. "Don't worry," he said, keeping his voice steady and gentle, "it's not what it looks like." A part of him felt like he was trying to convince himself almost as much as he was trying to convince her.

It seemed to work. By the time they got to the cockpit, he had managed to turn his thoughts back to the incredible date he'd had with Cinder before. Everything was going to be fine. He didn't need to understand everything that Cinder was doing. He certainly didn't like it, but this time, he was going to listen to her. She had asked him to trust her, and she had always shown in the past that she had his best interest at heart. This time, he would give her the trust she deserved.

Cress was a different story. While she was no longer crying, he could tell that she was still very unhappy. She sat down in the pilot's chair and rested her chin in her hands, not willing to look at him.

"Stars, I'm probably the last person you want to be around right now." He gave her his best playful smile and tried to say it in a joking tone, but he was a bit uncomfortable with this whole situation and it came out awkward instead. He raked his hands through his hair.

When she didn't respond or even acknowledge him, he slumped into the chair next to her. Whatever good intentions Cinder might have, there was no point in making this poor girl suffer anymore.

"Listen, I don't want you to feel obligated to talk to me just because I'm the Emperor. We don't know each other, and there's not a lot of reason for you to trust me. But I hope that you'll at least listen to me about one thing." He paused for effect, but she still didn't look at him.

"Cinder is not interested in Carswell Thorne."

This made Cress peer at him, albeit suspiciously.

"In fact, Cinder and I— we —" He hesitated. Despite his earlier internal struggle, he still found it hard to talk about his feelings for Cinder to other people. He was used to keeping everything to himself. "Cinder and I have feelings for each other."

"I thought you did." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but at least she was talking again.

"Well, you were right. And if I'm not mistaken, you have feelings for Thorne, don't you?" He cringed. He wasn't practiced in these types of conversations. His mother had died when he was fairly young, and he didn't have any siblings, let alone sisters. She looked away again, her cheeks burning bright red. He didn't want to push it any further.

After they sat silently for a while, she slowly swiveled to face him. Her expression was serious, contemplative—painful.

"I think Thorne might like Cinder."

His chest constricted. But this time it wasn't because he was jealous, but rather because her tone made it clear how much this thought must have been haunting her. She must have been dying to share this with someone. Based on what Cinder had told him about the events since Cress's botched "rescue," she probably didn't have close confidence with anyone on the ship besides Thorne. And if she were in love with Thorne…well, it was a tough situation to be in.

"I'm not really sure what he thinks." It was the best he could offer.

"Except that he seems to enjoy making me jealous."

She half smiled. "I think he was doing that on purpose."

"Probably."

"If Cinder doesn't like him, what was she doing just now?"

Kai shrugged. "Not totally sure. I know she did it on purpose though, maybe to make him feel uncomfortable for a change?"

"It's pretty hard to make the Captain feel uncomfortable."

"I'll bet."

They drifted into silence again. He thought a little more about Cinder's explanation of Cress trapped on the satellite with only Sybil Mira for company. What a horrible thought. He'd only been around Sybil Mira for a few months, and it had been unbearable – even in an over-sized palace. And then, to come to Earth and discover that Dr. Erland was her father only to have him die on the same day. His chest squeezed again and he wished that there was a way to erase all the pain that Levana caused—on everyone. On his people, on his planet, and on this girl that sat next to him. He reminded himself that this was why he was here—instead of on Earth. They were all joined by a common purpose.

"Hey, Cress?"

She looked at him again. Her eyes no longer looked as pained as before. Some relief washed over him. He was surprised at how much he cared.

"Can I give you some advice?"

She looked at him, curious. "About what?"

"You probably didn't get too much dating advice growing up, did you?"

"Dating advice? No, not really. Just what I saw in the dramas."

"Well, I'm not a big expert on dating at all, but I _am_ a guy, and I think there's something you should know about guys."

"Okay."

"I was just thinking… _some_ guys—maybe guys like Thorne—can have it pretty easy when it comes to women liking them. Really easy, in fact. And sometimes if it's too easy, we get bored."

"Bored?"

"It's maybe a bit of an ego thing. When things are too easy, it's not any fun. It depends on the guy."

"I don't really get it."

"What I mean is—maybe you should try playing hard to get. You know, don't make yourself as readily available for him. Or at least try to make it less obvious that you have a crush on him."

"I'm trying," she mumbled.

He smiled at her. "Well, at least he can't see you."

She frowned. "I'll think about it."

Before they could fall into silence again, he cleared his throat. "So…we should probably talk about Levana soon."

"Your Majesty?"

"Yes, Cress?"

"You won't tell him?"

He smiled, relaxing. "It'll be our little secret."


	8. Chapter 8

Cinder squirmed unhappily on Thorne's lap, but tried to make her face look as relaxed and flirtatious as possible as she smoothed her fingers through his hair. Guilt, scandal, and even a bit of revulsion threatened to spill out of her. She knew what they were thinking. The waves of emotions that flicked over both Kai and Cress showed her that she must be a better actress than she thought. But she was an imposter. She couldn't believe that anyone was falling for this.

The look on Kai's face confirmed that the suspicions he had voiced to her earlier in the day were not just paranoid delusions. Thorne's dabbling had been quite effective. But worse still was Cress – Oh, Cress. The expression on her face was making Cinder's heart break. Kai had been right. She was head over heels for Thorne. How had she not noticed before?

Cinder shifted her fingers along his neck, and from the way Thorne was completely tense against her, she knew that she had made the right choice. It was very obvious that he did not in fact have any feelings for her – just as she had expected. Good.

His bioelectricity hummed out of him, and she ached to reach for it. It felt nervous and conflicted, unlike his usual open and carefree feel. But she needed him in his current state – out of his comfort zone and clearly confused by her actions. It was her only chance to bring Thorne's guard down and get anything out of him. He would be too quick and clever otherwise. Besides, he deserved a little bit of a hard time after how jealous he'd made Kai. A part of her hoped that he felt like a piece of meat beneath her.

The second that Kai and Cress left the room, she released her grip on Thorne and practically launched herself off of him. Thorne scrambled up as well, his confused face already clouding with lines of anger.

"Aces, Cinder! What were you—what are you—" he fumbled for the right words, and after a moment of silence and exasperated gestures, his voice solidified. "What in the name of spades are you doing!?"

He was practically yelling at her. She wasn't used to it. It made her feel more uncomfortable, but she didn't care.

"Just reacting to how in love with me you are," she said with false sweetness and indifference.

He paled. "In love with you? But we're—you're—"

"I'm in love with you too. I just wanted to show you." Cinder half-gagged, half-laughed in her mind as she said it. She was trying desperately to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. "It's about time we made our love public."

She stepped close to him and trailed her finger on his arm. He flinched, and used his other hand to still hers.

"Stop it, Cinder."

But Cinder wasn't ready to stop yet. His face was too priceless. "I know you want me too, Captain."

"Stars, am I being glamoured?"

Cinder snorted. "If you were being glamoured, you wouldn't have any thoughts of doubt about how much you want me right now."

He didn't say anything, but he seemed to relax a little.

"Besides, isn't this what you've always wanted? For me to fall all over your charming self?"

A pause.

"No."

His voice came out small, and she was amazed. Her confident, cocky accomplice…at a loss for words? Her heart hummed with glee. But then she remembered the point of this conversation and she made her voice harsh.

"Oh really, Captain?" She spat his title on purpose. "If that's not what you wanted, then why are you going around trying to make Kai jealous?"

Thorne's discomfort became less distinguished. Letting go of her hand, he relaxed a bit. "Ahhh, I get it."

"Finally caught on?"

He rocked on his heels. "I can't help it if I'm a desirable man."

"Ew."

He smirked, looking pleased with himself. "Says the girl who was just sitting on my lap."

"Stop trying to change the subject. Poor Kai! He was—"

"Poor Kai? Poor Kai?" Thorne crossed his arms, his smirk leaving his face. "Yes, poor little rich boy, who's never had to sacrifice anything in his life. Poor Kai who we risked our lives for so he wouldn't make the stupidest decision in the world! Poor Emperor who threw us both in jail!"

"First of all," said Cinder indignantly, "you deserved to be in jail. Second of all, don't you dare talk about Kai that way. What do you know about him anyway? He's had to make a lot of sacrifices. More than you will probably ever know."

Thorne dismissed her comment with a wave of his hand. "Point is, a real man should be able to handle a little competition."

Cinder was growing exasperated. "A real man!? And that standard being, what, you?"

Instead of answering, he moved to sit in the chair again. He rubbed his temples, looking tired. "Stop getting your wires crossed, Cinder. I heard him yelling at you in the podship dock and I thought maybe he had changed his mind about you." He sounded almost sheepish. "I was trying to look out for you."

Startled by his sudden confession, she softened a bit. "So you thought the best thing to do was to tell him we were together?"

"I've done nothing of the sort. I've been...incentivizing him."

"Incentivizing?"

"Once I realized that he still liked you, I changed tactics."

"That tactic being jealousy?"

"My dear little cyborg princess, still so naive." His swagger voice was back and she felt her irritation returning. "I told you when we met that I knew about love. Kai needed an extra push to show you his real feelings."

"Kai does not need a push. He's quite capable on his own. He asked me to the ball not once but three times."

Thorne raised an eyebrow.

"One of those times," she added, "he flirted with me while asking me to the ball in front of, like, fifty people and then he basically locked us in an elevator and tried to kiss me! He is not that shy. He is flirty and confident and sure of himself."

Thorne smiled. "Interesting. Well he certainly didn't act flirty and confident last night."

"Well apparently no one can beat you, Thorne!"

He crossed his arms again. "You should be thanking me instead of yelling at me. Kai played directly into my hands. Or your hands, I should say. I knew he'd make a move with a little incentive to do so. Isn't that where you've been all day?"

"He already made a move last night!" The words slipped out before she could stop herself.

"Did he now?" Thorne said slyly, wiggling his eyebrows as a wicked grin lit up his face. "So, is the Emperor worth all the rave? Good kisser?"

"Don't you even—"

He held up his hands. "Fine, fine. In either case I did you a favor."

"You've made him jealous, that's all you did."

"It's not like he claimed you. Look at Wolf and Scarlet—" he winced, catching himself. "Er, I mean, at least, look at how they were. That guy knows how to make other men back off from his woman. And it has nothing to do with him being a wolf hybrid soldier."

"Well your plan backfired. Thanks to you, Kai just thinks we had some secret love affair on the Rampion."

Thorne nodded, looking wistful. "It wouldn't be the first time there was some love on this ship."

No. No. No. How had Thorne already recaptured this conversation? She hated that he was so good at turning things around. In any other circumstance, this would have been the point in their conversation where she would have walked away, but she had to stay. She wasn't finished with him yet. The issue of Cress still needed to be addressed.

"If you're so great with love, then why are you being an idiot with Cress?"

This must have caught Thorne completely by surprise, because he blanched and shot back up to his feet. His abrupt response made Cinder feel as though she had achieved a small victory in their conversation. She was on to something.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded.

"What's going on with you two?"

He retreated. "Nothing."

Her orange light blinked in her vision. Oh, so he wanted to play. She could play. She hadn't spent several weeks with him for nothing.

"You are really lucky you are blind right now. First, because it's making me take some pity on you. Second, because you couldn't see the look on Cress's face when I sat on your lap. I know you care about her, and the look would have crushed you."

"What look? What did you do?" Thorne said accusatorily.

She ignored him. "What did you do to her? Did you seduce her in the desert and then leave her? Did you add her to your stupid list of women you've loved and want to brag about?"

Thorne looked stricken. He swallowed hard. "What?"

"Was she just another conquest?"

Thorne, now scowling, said sarcastically, "I'm glad to see you think so highly of me."

Cinder bit her lip, guilt washing over her again. She knew that she wasn't playing fair. "I'm sorry. I don't really think that, I just—I just felt like I had to see your reaction."

"Let's get something straight, Cinder. A lot of women may fall for me, and I may have dated many of them, but I am not a womanizer. And I don't appreciate you making me look like one in front of Cress."

"May I remind you that it was your idea to make it look like I was in a relationship with you!"

"This is different," he mumbled, looking down. He played with his hands and shifted uneasily on his feet.

Cinder's heart swelled for her friend. Maybe he did have real feelings for Cress. "It doesn't feel so great to have someone pretend to fawn over you while you like someone else, does it?" she said gently.

He didn't say anything.

She waited, but he still said nothing. The silence made her feel uncomfortable. She wasn't used to deeper conversations with him, and she didn't like the way he was drawing it out.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on now?"

"Nothing's going on."

The orange light again. Cinder put her hands on her hips. "I guess if it's really no big deal then, I could just continue to make both of us feel revulsion as I flirt shamelessly with you in front of Cress."

He sighed and threw up his hands. "Fine. Cress told me she was in love with me in the desert."

Slightly caught off guard, Cinder thought back to how flustered Cress had been the first time they'd all spoken on the D-comm chip. Could it have been because of Thorne?

"Well, did you have the same reaction as you did just now with me?"

"No!" he exclaimed. "It's different with Cress. She was sick at the time, and she was sweet and naïve—whereas you were just freaking me out!"

Cinder couldn't help laughing for a second, and then bit her lip. "I was trying to freak you out. So what happened then?"

"Nothing. I told you, she had a fever at the time so she didn't know what she was saying. I guess in the end she did have a bit of a crush on me all along—well, at least when we first met. But then she saw the real me and now it's over."

Cinder frowned, confused by his statement and the lack of orange in her vision. "It doesn't seem over."

"What do you mean?"

"You can't see the way she looks at you."

Thorne rolled his eyes. "Trust me, everyone looks at me that way." Now it was Cinder's turn to roll her eyes. At least this conversation hadn't damaged his ego.

"She's probably just daydreaming. She does that a lot. You know, talks to herself, sings. That sort of thing."

"I don't think that's it."

"Well you don't know Cress that well yet."

"That's true," said Cinder, frowning, "but—"

"Besides, I asked her if she still loved me and she said no."

"She said no?" She couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice.

"Well technically she didn't say anything at all but it was painfully clear by her silence. It was just her fever talking in the desert."

"What? You told her how you felt?"

"No! I wasn't—I don't—"

Cinder groaned. "Thorne, you are blind. And I'm not talking about your eyes. You are a total idiot."

"Am not. Like I said, I already asked her."

"Let me get this straight…you asked her out?"

"No."

"You asked her to be yours?"

"No."

"You asked her to have your babies?"

"No!"

"Well, thank the stars because that last one makes vomit rise up in my mouth."

He harrumphed. "You should be so lucky." She waited while he muttered some more.

"My point is, you didn't exactly take a pro-active step. She already laid her heart bare—"

"—If she did," he interrupted.

She ignored him. "She already laid her heart bare for you and you squashed her hopes. You have to offer something of yourself in return. You didn't. You only gave her the option to throw herself out there again and let you crush her heart."

"Oh spades, Cinder. This is not the dramatic situation you're making it. I didn't crush her heart. She was sick with fever."

"You're a crusher."

"I'm—"

"Crusher."

"Shut up."

Cinder was smiling broadly even though she knew Thorne was thoroughly annoyed. She was glad he couldn't see her.

"So, when are you going to tell her?"

"Tell her what?" he grumbled.

"That you like her!"

"I never said that I did."

She couldn't believe this. "Ohh no you don't! All this talk earlier about pushing people to show their real feelings, and all the while you shrink back and do nothing of the sort."

He shifted uncomfortably and shook his head. "We're not having this conversation."

"Carswell Thorne! You think you're all mysterious and hidden under a cloak of charm—"

"—so you think I'm charming?"

"—shut up Thorne! I've gotten to know you better over the past few weeks. Don't forget that one of your weaknesses is my glamour. I could glamour this out of you, you know."

"Sounds like a dream come true. Just make sure that when you mope about how guilty you feel later, don't come running to me."

"Thorne," she was practically whining. "You're driving me crazy. What about Cress, then?"

"What about her?"

"You're leading her on," she exclaimed, "acting like this!"

"No, I'm not. Thanks to you and your display today, she probably now thinks that I like you. See? Problem solved."

"She still likes you!"

"Aces, Cinder. If I'm going to listen to anyone about how Cress feels, it'll be Cress, not you!" He was practically yelling again.

"Okay, okay," she said quickly. "Sorry! But just promise me that as soon as your vision comes back you'll see what I'm talking about."

"I don't want to see it!" His face looked pained. This was yet another look she'd never seen on him. Her heart wrenched and she wanted nothing more than to make her friend be happy again.

"Why not?"

"I don't want her to be in love with me, okay? I'm not the right guy for her. I could never give her what she needs."

Here it was. He didn't think he deserved her. It was actually kind of sweet.

"Oh Thorne. You're not a bad guy."

"I'm not a good guy, though."

She considered this. "Maybe not in the classic definition of the term, but I think anyone who gets to know you will realize you're still a good guy. It's just hidden beneath your…charismatic and kleptomaniac personality."

He almost laughed. "Coming from you, princess, that's probably the best compliment I'll ever get."

She smiled. "Just think about what I said, okay?"

"Depends. When are you going to tell me about you and Kai?"

"Never!" she gloated, and was happy as he made a face at her.

"Come here," he beckoned, and held out his hand to her. She obliged and he slipped his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. She hoped it meant that he was forgiving her for some of her earlier comments.

"You're kind of a stubborn pain, aren't you?" he said, but he was smiling.

"Not any more than you," she retorted, but she leaned her head into his shoulder for a brief second to show that she wasn't mad either.

"Now," said Thorne, "let's agree to never have you sit on my lap again. I know I'm irresistible but you have to learn to control yourself around me."

She elbowed him in the chest. "Then you control yourself around Kai."

He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "I'm not sure I can. He's too dreamy for me."

"You know what I mean!"

He laughed. "So, where did they go, anyway?"

"I'm not sure. I told Kai to distract Cress."

He looked slightly displeased but didn't say anything.

"I'm gonna go find them, do you want to come?"

Thorne shook his head. "No, I think I'm going to go lay down. It's late and you've worn me out, Cinder."

"Who would have thought that was possible, Captain?"

He rolled his eyes. "Indeed."

"Goodnight, Thorne."

"Night, princess."


	9. Chapter 9

Cinder walked around the Rampion for a few minutes until she located Kai and Cress. She expected to find them in a somber state, but to her surprise, they were laughing – a lot. Kai was making gestures wildly in the air, as if he were recounting a funny story. Cinder had to take a moment to appreciate that of course his signature smile wouldn't be reserved only for her. It was one of the reasons he had such a large fan base. Cress's giggle was infectious, though, and Cinder couldn't keep the smile from growing on own her lips either. When she approached them, they looked up to greet her.

"Hey, Cinder," said Kai, the smile not leaving his face.

"What's so funny?" asked Cinder, curious.

"We were just exchanging stories about the crazy Lunars we have in common."

"It turns out that my interactions with Mistress Sybil may actually count as 'pleasant' in comparison to some of Kai's," said Cress, as Kai burst into laughter again.

"Right…" said Cinder, not totally sure what they were referring to. Cress had been trapped in a satellite for several years, which seemed unbearable. How could Cress be joking about this?

Kai, noticing Cinder's hesitation, tried to put on a more serious face. "Don't worry, we fully recognize how horrible Lunars are," he glanced at Cress, "well, at least _most_ Lunars. We just learned that we had more things in common than we thought, I guess. Don't worry about it."

Cinder shrugged. She had been mentally preparing herself to tell both of them that her and Thorne were not a couple, but it didn't seem necessary anymore. They seemed relaxed, so she relaxed too and let it go.

They heard footsteps and turned to the doorway as Wolf shuffled in. Both Kai and Cress stood up—Kai more abruptly. As he approached, she felt Kai tense up beside her. Despite knowing that Wolf was kind, Cinder had to admit that his presence was quite intimidating with his physical build and scars. Tonight he looked particularly wild, with gaunt eyes, unruly hair and an unshaven face. She wanted to give Kai an assuring squeeze, but she wasn't sure if he would want that kind of public display of affection. Instead, she took a step toward Wolf to greet him. He nodded to them.

"Where have you been all day?" she asked him.

"Mostly in my room."

"Oh, right. That's understandable, of course, considering..."she trailed off.

"It's not really that," he said, looking uncomfortable. "I was planning on coming over here earlier, but there was just too much…uh…heated discussion coming from a few rooms down."

He gave Cinder a knowing look. She fixed her eyes on Kai's shoe. "You know, enhanced wolf hearing. I felt like I was eavesdropping for most of the day."

"Heated discussion?" asked Cress, looking from Cinder to Wolf.

"Bickering," Wolf clarified. "Not to be—insensitive—but has everyone finally decided who likes who and all that? We have more pressing issues to think about." Kai and Cress both turned a little pink as Cinder tried to look indifferent. But the awkwardness between the four of them quickly became palpable.

"I know it was my idea to take a break today," Wolf continued, "but I guess I didn't realize that entailed – nevermind."

Kai cleared his throat. "More pressing issues. Of course. I've had a few thoughts today about this whole situation and how we should proceed." His voice had turned brisk and business-like, and Cinder imagined him speaking to a group of very important people. It had been easy to forget today that he was the Emperor, and she didn't like being reminded. It felt like a barrier was being put up between them again.

"We need to find a way to contact my advisor, Torin. He's capable, but I need to let him know that I'm okay. He'll have a clearer head once he hears from me. Furthermore, there are some decisions that are going to be made on Earth regarding this war for which I cannot be absent from, even if I am not able to be physically present."

It was Cress who interjected. Cinder could tell that she still didn't seem comfortable with the attention given to her whenever she spoke, but her voice was less quiet than usual. "No," she said firmly. "It's not a good idea for you to contact anyone, or for _any_ of us to contact anyone. We need to make sure we stay undetected. It's hard enough as it is to keep the satellites pointed away from us. We don't want to risk someone tracing a signal we put out. Queen Levana may have already found another way to bug the palace in order to procure more information during these attacks. She's likely very eager to find you."

Kai didn't budge. "I appreciate your concern, but I don't think that this should be your decision to make."

"It's not just Cress' decision," said Cinder. "She's our resident IT specialist. If she says we can be detected, you have to listen to her. We can't jeopardize being found right now."

Wolf nodded solemnly. "She's protected the ship from the start."

Kai looked annoyed as Cress' cheeks turned pink again. "Besides," she said, "I really don't think we should be making any decisions without Thorne. Where is he, anyway?"

"He was tired, so he decided to go to bed," Cinder stated matter-of-factly.

Wolf surveyed them. "That's probably not a bad idea. We all need to think about our next move. Levana should have arrived on Luna by now, and tomorrow we need to get down to business and be serious. I think we should run through a training regime."

They all eyed him wearily.

"Well, more on that tomorrow," he added. He moved to sit in one of the chairs and Kai flinched. Wolf bristled.

"I'm sorry for what I am, Your Majesty, but I think you can rest assured knowing that if I had wanted to hurt you – or anyone on this ship, for that matter – I would have been capable of doing so in the last twenty-four hours."

Kai looked slightly mollified, but he remained formal. "My apologies. It's just taking time to get used to…everything. I appreciate you helping Cinder and being a part of this mission. Please, just give me some time to adjust."

Wolf dipped his head slightly, then sat down. "Understood. In the meantime, Cress, I'd like to see if you are able to hack into any of Luna's records. Maybe you can find some information on Jacin Clay or anything else that can lead us to Princess Winter."

Cress nodded. "I can do that. Is it okay if I start tomorrow?"

"Of course."

"Jacin Clay?" asked Kai, glancing at Cinder. "Is that the guard who boarded the ship with Sybil?"

Wolf scowled. "That's the one. He's the one that left us to die on the palace rooftop."

"Why are we looking for him then?"

"We're not looking for him, specifically. He'll be back in Levana's clutches if Levana hasn't already had him executed for treason. However, he told Cinder that he was loyal to Princess Winter, and she could be a potential ally in this revolution. We don't have too many leads, so any bit of information at this point can help us."

"I see," said Kai. "I'll be very interested in meeting her if we are able to figure out where she is. I've had many conversations about her with other union leaders."

Cinder raised her eyebrows but let it go. "Let's finish this discussion tomorrow, okay? It can't hurt to sleep on it."

"Good idea," said Cress.

"Has anyone seen Iko, by the way?" asked Cinder. She hadn't seen her friend since lunch and it was unlike her not to make her presence known.

"She was in the kitchen while I was eating dinner," said Wolf. "She was watching a net drama and seemed pretty absorbed in it." Cinder laughed to herself. Typical Iko.

Wolf turned in the chair and faced the moon. His posture and face made it clear that the conversation was over and that he wanted to be left alone.

"Come on, Cinder," said Kai, gently tugging on her hand as he steered her away from Wolf. "I'll walk you and Cress to your rooms."

Cress looked at his hand on Cinder's. One side of her mouth worked its way into a smile, and she looked at them wistfully. "Thanks for the talk, Your Majesty."

Kai tilted his head to her and winked. "Anytime, Cress."

As they walked down the hallway, Cress began to hum softly. It was endearing, and it made it sound as though she were happy about something. When they rounded the corner, the bathroom door opened and Thorne stepped out.

He was wearing nothing but a towel that hung loosely from his hips.

Cress stopped humming as Cinder blinked in surprise. She hated her synthetic eyes more than ever as her retina scanner started trying to analyze the angles of his torso.

"Hey Cress!" he said cheerfully. He ran a comb through his wet hair a few times, sleeking it back. Cinder, Kai, and Cress just stared at him.

She found her voice first. "What are you doing?"

"Cinder?" He seemed mildly surprised. "I thought I heard Cress humming."

"Cress is here."

"Evening, ladies," he said, the grin returning to his face.

"Kai is here too."

His grin became a smirk. "Of course he is."

Kai raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you just standing there in your towel?" she demanded.

"Well, Cinder, usually that's what you wear when you get out of the shower. Last time I checked it worked the same way in the Eastern Commonwealth."

"I thought you were going to bed."

"I am going to bed."

She rolled her eyes and couldn't keep the disdain out of her voice. "I forgot you take half-hour showers."

He continued to run his comb through his hair, looking as though he were part of a net advertisement for hair product. "We've got good soap on this ship."

Kai scratched his ear and looked away from Thorne. "Could you please put a shirt on?"

Thorne smirked again. "What are we, in third grade? I was just heading to my room. Besides, Cress has seen me without a shirt on and she didn't freak out."

Cress's eyes widened as Cinder and Kai turned to look at her instead and she let out a little squeak.

"There you are." Thorne turned in her direction. "I'm glad I ran into you. We were so rudely interrupted by Cinder earlier that I didn't even get a chance to say goodnight. Do you want to come hang out for a few minutes?"

Cress's face told Cinder that she was going to need help forming a coherent response.

"I promise to put a shirt on?" Thorne offered in the silence.

Kai nudged Cress's shoulder. She turned and blinked at him, flustered. Kai shook his head at her firmly.

"I—I'm really tired, actually."

"Aw, c'mon Cress." He leaned back into the bathroom and deposited his comb on the sink, retrieving what looked like the clothes he had been wearing earlier in the day.

Kai gestured in the opposite direction of Thorne while mouthing silently at Cress: "Walk...away..."

Cinder furrowed her brow, unsure of what exactly was going on. But Cress seemed to regain her composure and gave Kai a curt nod.

"We have a lot to do tomorrow and I should really rest."

"Okay, then…sleep well."

"Thanks, Captain." With that, she spun around quickly and hurried down the corridor where they had come from. Cinder knew that this was definitely not the direction in which her bedroom was located, but kept silent.

"Well, that's that I guess." Thorne headed down the hallway to his room. "You two behave now," he drawled wickedly over his shoulder.

Cinder looked awkwardly at Kai. He scratched his ear again and looked her over. "The fun never stops with him around, does it?"

"Trust me, you get used to it. Well…sort of."

* * *

Thorne found his bunk and collapsed into it, exhausted. But instead of falling into his usual deep sleep, he laid there staring into the ever-present darkness that he was reluctantly growing accustomed to. The nagging thoughts in his head wouldn't leave him alone. He cursed into the blackness as unwanted scenarios played with his mind. Why had he meddled?

Leave it to the awkward lunar cyborg. He had underestimated her. A mistake he would not be making again.

He was Carswell Thorne. He could handle this. No big deal.

Besides, what did she know anyway?

He sighed. No, this day had not gone according to plan.

Touché, Cinder.


	10. Chapter 10

Kai walked Cinder to her room. When she entered, he lingered at her door. She looked at him curiously. "Do you want to come in?"

He hesitated. "I do, but I'm not sure if it would be appropriate."

Cinder cocked her head, trying to read him. "We spent most of the day in your room."

A look of indecision flickered over his face, but then he nodded slowly. "You're right."

He walked in, but instead of coming near her, he leaned himself against the door frame, crossing one leg over the other and slipping his hands into his pockets. He regarded her intently, and Cinder felt a prick of nervousness sweep over her. Why couldn't she make her heart get used to his presence? Surely this had to pass at some point. Feeling drained, she sat down on her bed and hugged her knees into her chest. This way, she could better avoid fiddling with her now glove-less hand.

Kai gave her a slow smile. "I really like Cress. I'm glad that you had me hang out with her while you talked to Thorne."

"I noticed. I'm surprised that you're not dying to know how that conversation went."

"Nah. I realized a few things while you were sitting on his lap—"

"Don't remind me." Cinder cringed and covered her face with her hands.

"If I'm honest, I was initially jealous, but you were right—I should just trust you. It's none of my business really."

"It is, though. It was just a ruse. And Thorne didn't like it either."

He broke into a grin. "That I could see quite clearly."

Cinder noticed the tone of satisfaction that was in his voice. Yes, she would probably feel triumph as well if she were in his shoes.

"Did you talk to Cress about Thorne?"

He considered the question. "In a manner of speaking…yes." He didn't offer any more information though, and Cinder decided to save that conversation for another day. She'd engaged in the Thorne-Cress saga too much today already.

They drifted into silence. Cinder hugged her legs tighter. She looked up and saw that he was still staring at her intently. "What?"

He sighed. "Nothing."

"Kai…you're making me nervous."

"Am I?" He let out a slow breath. "And here I thought I was nervous enough for the both of us."

Cinder felt her own nerves spike. "What are you nervous about?"

He stared at her for a moment longer, then pushed himself off the wall. He walked a few paces closer and gestured to her bed. "May I?"

Cinder nodded. He sat down at least two feet away from her, looking stiff and uncomfortable. After a few moments, he scooted backwards in the bed until he was leaning against one of the posts. Cinder had to turn herself around to avoid craning her neck when she looked at him. She crossed her legs and studied him as he fiddled with the sleeves on his shirt. She wasn't used to seeing him like this, especially because it was so different from the demeanor he'd had only hours earlier.

"Kai."

"Hmm?"

"You said I was easy to talk to. So talk to me."

He looked up at her, his face shy and hesitant. "I'm not sure where to go from here, honestly. I hope that you liked what we did this afternoon, and hopefully I seemed more confident than I really am in this department. I mean, I've been on some dates, but—being a prince growing up you have certain expectations—there were other responsibilities—er, I haven't really had a lot of time to plan through what would happen when I actually did fall for someone." He looked sheepish.

Relief washed through Cinder. With all of Kai's flirtatiousness in New Beijing, she had imagined that he was more experienced with matters of the heart. At least she wasn't the only one who had no clue what was normal or not in the course of a relationship.

"I've never even been on a date before," she admitted.

"Really?" He smiled kindly. "Sorry that I couldn't do any better this afternoon. Limited resources. You know, we went over that."

"No, I had a great time."

He brightened. "So did I. I had an incredible time."

She moved closer to him, and his face fell slightly.

"You're doing it again."

"What?"

"Being weird!"

He laughed, but it was strained. "There's more, unfortunately. I've had some time tonight to think about our...situation. And I feel, torn, I guess. There's this huge part of me that can't wait to see where this goes. I really like you, Cinder, and I can't stop thinking about you. I couldn't stop thinking about you no matter how hard I tried even after you escaped from prison. And last night, and today—wow! I just wish that all I could do was keep pursuing you, and do whatever normal couples do as they get to know each other."  Cinder's heart dropped despite the compliments. She knew there was a "but" coming. And she was pretty sure she knew what it was. The look on his face turned serious. "Running into Wolf tonight sobered me up."

"I know, Kai."

"You do?"

Cinder nodded. "Don't you think I feel the same?"

"It's just—what are we—how can we—stars I can't get say anything right today! In my office, when you and Iko broke in…you mocked me about some of my assumptions. You said, 'there was never going to be a forever.' I realized in that moment that you were right, because as you pointed out, I was the Emperor of a country and you—" he paused.

"I was a nobody," she offered.

"You were somebody to _me_. But I got it—it made sense the way you put it. But now," he rushed on, "things have changed. Stars, Cinder, you're the heir of Luna! And let's say we win, let's say we somehow make it through all that's about to come, and _do_ defeat Levana. Then what?"

She didn't know how to answer him. The look on his face confirmed all the doubts that had been weighing on her as well. She'd done a good job of pushing her problems away today, as if this day alone were the eye of a storm. It was too frightening to think about what would happen later, and the inevitable circumstances that would separate them even if they succeeded: her on Luna, and Kai on Earth.

Could there be a happy ending for _any_ of them? If they were able to save Scarlet, what would happen with her and Wolf when this was over? Surely they would refuse to be separated again. But one was Lunar, one was Earthen. Just like her and Kai. Technically—legally—they weren't even allowed to live in the same place. And if by some off chance Cress and Thorne ended up together, they would have the same problem.

Why was she even considering these scenarios? It was so silly to be thinking of these things with the prospect of taking on Levana looming so close in the future. If all of them survived this, that would be all that mattered. Wouldn't it? Yes, she told herself firmly. Maybe they couldn't all be together, but at least they would be safe.

Kai clenched his fists in frustration. "Above everything else, I feel so useless. I know we can't get to the moon any sooner, but this feeling of helplessness is driving me crazy. I've deserted my people and left everyone on Earth to deal with the mess I made."

"The mess _I_ made," Cinder protested. "You didn't come willingly, remember? And, if you hadn't met me at all, you'd probably be happily married by now."

"Yes I'm sure I would have been just _brimming_ with joy if it weren't for you," he said grimly, but she knew he was teasing.

"Can we pause for a second and talk about that?"

"About what?"

"You marrying Levana."

He groaned. "What about it?"

"I know she just needs the marriage document in order to be Empress, but wouldn't there be someone more suitable? She's so much older than you – you can't tell me you don't think it's slightly creepy."

"Cinder, everything about Levana is creepy."

For a minute, they laughed about Levana. But it was short-lived.

"It wouldn't have been like a real marriage, Cinder. There are plenty of marriages—non-royal ones too—where affection is missing from the equation. It's a marriage of convenience – not that this made me feel any better about it. It's just what I've been trying to tell myself the last few weeks."

"And if she murders you right away then you don't need to worry about having an affection-less marriage."

"Wow. I'm glad I didn't have you as my council during that time period. Don't think I could have handled all your optimism."

She smirked.

"Besides, Torin pointed out that she wouldn't kill me right away. She needs an heir."

Cinder wrinkled her nose. She hadn't thought about that. "And _that's_ supposed to make you feel better?"

Kai shifted his eyes uncomfortably. "I know, I know. It's really gross."

"Right now it is…but I guess when it came down to it, you would probably enjoy it. She would just glamour you into it."

Kai looked horrified. "Oh stars…"

"Anyway," said Cinder, fumbling for the right words.

"Yeah," said Kai, "moving on…"

"Do you think we made a mistake, trying to get to know each other today? Do you…regret…that we kissed?" It was the question she'd wanted to ask him for a while. She braced herself for the worst.

A pang of realization followed by a look of hurt flashed over Kai's eyes. He quickly scooted in front of her, now only inches away from her face. The tips of his fingers barely grazed her knee.

"Oh, Cinder. No. Absolutely not. That's not what I meant. I just wish we had more time to actually be together."

He startled her by pulling her into a crushing embrace. She wrapped herself around him too, wishing that she could disappear in his arms. Kai rested his chin on her head as she buried her face in his chest. "What are we going to do?" he whispered into her hair.

"Can we just have a few more hours of pretend?"

"I'm not very good at pretending. Or hiding my emotions. At least, that's what Torin tells me."

"Then don't hide them, maybe?" Pressed up against him, Cinder was quickly losing the battle of her mind over her heart. This probably wouldn't be the right choice for either of them. "We could just…see what happens. We don't know for sure how any of this will turn out, anyway."

He squeezed her tighter and then kissed the top of her head.

"Hey," she said, "I just realized that your soap smell is gone."

"What?" said Kai.

"You used to smell like soap. Probably the kind Thorne has on this ship is different than what you normally use, so now the scent is gone."

Kai chuckled. "Well you don't smell like grease anymore."

Cinder pulled her head up to give him a glare and he released her, laughing. He put his arms protectively in front of his body like a shield. "Just don't hit me with the titanium!"

For the first time, she didn't feel self-conscious about her cyborg hand. She knew Kai meant it in an endearing way. His reaction made her grin, but she swatted him with her human hand for good measure anyway.

Kai leaned against the wall and Cinder followed suit. He took her hand and laced their fingers together. "I want to know more about you, Cinder. I want to hear about your life, your plans, everything."

Cinder looked him, doubtful. "That's very…ambitious…Kai, but it doesn't matter right now. There's no room for plans. You know that."

He shrugged. "I know, I'm sorry. I just don't want the last month to be the only thing I know about you –regardless of how this ends."

"Well, there's not that much to know. My life as I know it really only started a few years ago."

"What do you mean?"

Cinder rested her head on his shoulder. She launched into the story of how she had woken up in France and come to live in the Eastern Commonwealth. Her life with the Linh family. Her work. Iko. Kai told her about what it was like growing up in the palace as a prince. They talked for what seemed like hours.

It was easier to focus on the past than to think about the future.

After Cinder had yawned more than a few times, Kai finally got up off the bed. "We should get some sleep. It seems like Wolf's got some things planned for us tomorrow."

She walked with him for the few feet it took to get to the door. He paused and turned towards her.

"I'm glad we talked so much today," he said, trailing his fingers through her hair.

"Even if we didn't solve anything?"

"Even then." He settled his hand on her cheek. For a brief moment, he looked into her eyes again, as if searching for something. But just as quickly, he closed them and brought his lips to hers. Cinder's own eyes fluttered shut as she let herself be kissed, once again, by the Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth. It still seemed surreal.

Their lips parted, and she expected him to pull away and bid her goodnight. But he kissed her again.

And again.

And again.

She reached for him, getting lost in the way her heart was doing somersaults. He pulled away briefly and smiled at her, looking a bit dazed. She craved more, and this time it was Cinder who explored his lips—slowly, gently, savoring each moment. He grabbed her waist and pulled her close to him. She felt the heat radiate off their lips as his kisses became more passionate.

Suddenly, he broke away, looking almost alarmed. "I have to go," he said, a rough edge to his voice.

"Okay," said Cinder weakly, as Kai hurried out the door.

She sat back down on her bed, almost trembling from Kai's adoring kisses. She wished, more than ever, that Peony could have been here now. Because Cinder had officially joined the throng of girls who swooned at Emperor Kaito's feet.

* * *

Kai paced in his room, unable to fall asleep. What an intense day. Linh Cinder had given him many sleepless nights in the Eastern Commonwealth, so why had he expected it to be any different now? He just couldn't get this girl off of his mind. Hanging out with her was so much more enjoyable than anything else he had been doing lately. He should have let himself get kidnapped sooner.

This was Cinder, the girl who was easy to talk to. The girl he had met at the market who had slowly captured his heart. The girl who had risked everything not once, but twice, to protect him.

She was so pretty. It was an unconventional type of pretty—the kind that you didn't find on a daily basis, and he treasured that. With everyone around him always fussing about looks and appearances, it was a relief to see that someone could pull off a natural look.

When the thought of his lips on hers came pouring back into his mind, he sat down on the bed, and collapsed backward in surrender.

He was in deep. Oh stars, was he in trouble.

Thoughts jumbled, he tried to remember all the rules of royal courtships. His parents had made him take a class once, though he had been quite young at the time and hadn't paid much attention. He didn't need the manual, however, to know that he was probably breaking every rule that existed. And in only one day, to make matters worse. He knew that as an Emperor he was required to uphold certain expectations and values that had been set by his family and ancestors before him. Expectations and values that he very strongly agreed with—until he had practically dissolved into Cinder's embrace and gotten carried away.

He still had a country to run. He could not afford to get carried away.

And neither could Cinder.

Because this was Princess Selene. The future Lunar Queen, if they were successful. The fate of all of Earth could very well rest in her hands.

And she was his.


	11. Chapter 11

She dreamt that she was back in the satellite, playing games with Little Cress. She lost a game, and prepared herself to hear what exercise she would be forced to do. The text on the screen appeared: _Sing._

Sing? Cress had programmed this game herself, and she knew that singing was not one of the options. She typed a command, and the processor whirred, but the text returned.

"Little Cress, re-compute." But Little Cress didn't answer. She was about to type another command when she heard a familiar voice respond, but it wasn't Little Cress.

"You have to sing."

_Thorne_. His voice was coming out of the speaker. "Sing, Cress."

She stared blankly at the screen as goosebumps prickled her arms. "Sing for me," his voice insisted. Feeling confused, she began to hum a few notes. Another disembodied voice boomed out of the speakers—louder, more insistent:

"Don't." It was the Emperor's voice.

"Please, Cress, I need you to sing for me."

"Don't do it, Cress," Kai repeated.

She hesitated, not sure of who she should listen to. After a moment, she heard movement behind her and spun around. Thorne was walking in the door. He smiled and she grinned back, relief washing over her. He was here to rescue to her.

"Heya gorgeous, I've been looking everywhere for you," he drawled. Cress's grin could have blinded the sun itself. He was here, he could see, and he thought she was gorgeous! She moved to meet him, but another figure swept by her abruptly. A beautiful, impossibly tall girl with all the right curves practically ran into Thorne's open arms.

They began to make out.

Cress felt something stab her chest, and she knew her heart was breaking into a million pieces.

When Thorne came up for air, he let out a contented groan. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

The girl smirked condescendingly over Thorne's shoulder when she noticed Cress watching them. "Looks like you've got another admirer," she said, and Thorne turned around to look at her too. As his eyes swept her over, Cress stared down at her petite, mostly straight body, covered in a dress that she had long grown out of. She felt completely inadequate.

"Who, Cress?" Thorne laughed. "Don't worry about her. She's been in love with me since before we even met. It's really pathetic."

Cress, shocked at his cruel words, tried to hold back the tears that were forming at the base of her eyes.

"That _is_ pathetic," said the girl, running a finger along Thorne's jawline.

"I had to kiss her once," he explained to the girl, putting one arm around her waist. "It was a mistake, though. Now she thinks we belong together, or something." He rolled his eyes.

"You…with _her_?"

"I know, right? How could anyone like her ever have anything to offer to all—" he swept a hand over his body, as if showcasing himself, "—of this?"

They began to laugh, mocking her. Thorne was _mocking_ her.

As her tears began to spill out, they only laughed harder, and she wanted to run away—to hide—but she had nowhere to go. If only she could get out of the satellite. If only she weren't trapped here!

She woke up with wet streaks on her face and a horrible sense of embarrassment in her gut. Was that what Thorne really thought about her? That she was pathetic and had nothing to offer him? Just the thought of those harsh words brought on a fresh set of tears, and she cried into her pillow.

Trying to calm herself, she convinced herself that those thoughts were irrational. Thorne would never say something like that. He was kind to her—even sweet. He cared about her. He didn't want to hurt Cress; he'd said so himself.

But the more she thought about it, the more she thought her dream was an accurate picture of what she could expect if she couldn't get over him. Thorne was older and more experienced. He'd had many girlfriends. And he had a mass of girls all over the globe that would gladly be with him. Why would he choose her? If they survived this ordeal, he would take off on the Rampion and inevitably go find his dream girl.

And that dream girl would probably have very long legs.

A noise ripped her thoughts back to reality, and she realized it was the chime of Dr. Erland's portscreen. It was time to give Thorne his eye drops.

She moaned into her pillow. Not now. She'd gone to bed determined to feel different in the morning. Her conversation with Kai had made her feel so much stronger about everything. But now she only had knots and a wave of nausea in her stomach when she thought about facing Thorne. Oh, why did she have to have these nightmares? Why did her subconscious have to push her back into a bad state of mind?

At least he wouldn't be able to see her blotchy eyes. It was a selfish thought, but it helped just a bit.

When she arrived in the kitchen, Thorne was already there. He looked tired.

"Morning," she mumbled.

"Morning," he grunted back, reaching for her. But the spot next to him was empty, since Cress had chosen to sit across the table instead. He looked briefly bewildered, then shrugged and returned to his food.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

"In my experience, when a girl says she's fine, it's a code red for all men to hit the ground running because she is likely anything _but_ fine. Luckily for you, I can't run too well these days," he joked, giving her a crooked smile. But this time, she didn't feel herself melting like she usually did, because all she could imagine was the leggy girl who was about to come running in the door. Another wave of sadness washed over her.

She managed to get out a disinterested "mmm."

He frowned. "What's up, Cress?"

"Nothing."

" _Nothing_ seems to be right next to the list with _I'm fine."_

"I just didn't get much sleep."

"Oh, I see. I had a rather late night myself," he said, fiddling with his spoon. "Wish you would have come to hang out a bit."

Cress didn't respond. She silently let her head fall forward until her face was pressed onto the tabletop. Another advantage of Thorne's blindness—he couldn't see her act like a child right in front of him. She pulled on the short strands of hair that still remained on her head and screamed in her mind.

She was so sick of this emotional rollercoaster. One minute she was fine, the next minute she was sad. Then she was content with the current state of their relationship, whatever it was. The next minute, she was jealous of Thorne and Cinder. Then she was jealous of Kai and Cinder. Then she was miserable again. Then she was unsure of how to play the "hard to get" game that Kai had suggested. Then she was happy again. And just as suddenly, she was miserable again.

She pulled on her hair again for good measure.

"Ahem."

Lifting her head off the table, she saw Cinder and Iko standing in the doorway. Iko was staring curiously while Cinder just looked uncomfortable. "We're all ready in the main room when, um, whenever you two are ready to join us." She walked out briskly, pulling Iko with her.

"We should do your drops before we go out there."

Thorne brightened considerably. "Right!"

He leaned back in the chair and tilted his head the way he had done for the past two days, waiting for her. Cress scooted out of her chair and made her way over rather slowly, but he didn't fidget with impatience. She hovered over him, and he leaned back even more to open his eyes for her. She stared down at him, upside down, taking in his face so close to hers once again.

Sensations that she hadn't known existed until she had met him fought their way back into her heart, and they battled with all of the hopelessness she had felt only seconds before. She knew she shouldn't waste these precious moments being bitter or sad. This could be one of the last times that she would be so close to his face.

"It's your third day," she said, steadying one hand on his cheek before squeezing the drops with the other. Even though he was accustomed to the drops by now, he still blinked furiously and sent some of the solution spilling down his cheek.

"I know," he sighed happily, "I'm almost there."

She moved to brush away the streak of solution, and his hand encased hers. A jolt of electricity went through her as he turned around in the chair to face her.

"Thank you, Cress," he said softly, "for helping me get through this." He leaned his cheek into her hand and kissed the inside of her palm briefly, before releasing her.

Her breath hitched.

"I don't have that many real friends, but I'm glad—" he shook his head, looking slightly uncomfortable and unsure of what to say, "—I'm glad that you're one of them."

Friends. Of course they were friends.

An exaggerated throat clearing made both of them turn towards the door abruptly. Kai was standing there with his arms crossed, raising his eyebrow in disapproval at Cress. She quickly backed away from Thorne.

"Cinder sent me to see what was taking so long," he said pointedly. "Wolf is getting impatient."

"Yes, _Sir_ ," said Thorne sarcastically as he stood up, saluting in Kai's direction. Kai rolled his eyes.

"Cress, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked, gesturing for her.

"Sure, Your Majesty," she replied. It would be good to have a distraction.

"I'd really like to speak with Cress privately for a moment," said Kai, as Thorne made his way over too. "Why don't you head over to the others? We'll just be a moment."

An unreadable expression flickered over Thorne's face before he turned in the direction of the door and made his way out. She was surprised that he didn't have a smart comment to add to his exit. When his footsteps had faded, Kai turned to Cress.

"So, uh, Cinder might have mentioned that you seemed...distressed...a little while ago, and so I came to check on you."

"You told her?!"

"No, I didn't say anything. She just saw you banging your head on the table or something and was concerned. I told her that I would go check on you—you know, see if you needed my help."

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Whatever was going on between the two of you when I walked in certainly looked rather...cozy."

He averted his eyes as she blushed. "He was just thanking me for my help."

"Of course he was. Just a normal, friend thank you, is it?"

"I know, I know" she said dejectedly, looking at the ground.

"You just make sure he has the right intentions. And let me know if you need some help. I'm happy to step in."

She didn't have any idea how exactly Kai would "step in" to help her in this situation, but she didn't tell him that. It was, at least, slightly comforting to know that he wanted to look out for her. It was almost like she had a big brother to protect her. Well, maybe not _protect_ her, since Kai couldn't even protect himself from Thorne. But at least she had someone to talk to about this situation, even if it was the Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth himself.


	12. Chapter 12

"Well, that's the worst idea I've ever heard."

"As if yours is any better?"

With everyone finally gathered in the cargo bay area and boxes grudgingly pushed as far away from the center as possible, tensions were escalating.

Everyone had their own ideas about the best way to land on Luna. Cress wasn't really contributing, as the stronger personalities in the room had much more to say than she did. That was okay with her; she preferred to observe anyway. Every once in awhile, they asked her opinion about their plans. Even though she had lived on the satellite for half of her life, she and Wolf were the only two that could even begin to describe what it was like to be on Luna.

Sure, Cinder and Iko had downloaded maps and even a general outlay of Artemisia's underground port entrances, but it was only what the net offered the world—which was not much. The Lunars had strategically opted to keep many of their ways a secret. Getting through port security was the biggest problem. Wolf thought the best thing to do was for Cress to hack their security system and then attempt a landing above ground. Kai was particularly nervous about the feasibility of this plan, but the idea of managing to land in an underground port only to be then discovered by the Lunars who manned that station did not seem to be wise either. After a lot of bickering, it seemed likely that they would have to leave the Rampion behind and take a podship instead. It was just too easy to detect, and simply too big for an attempted stealth landing. This, of course, brought a string of protests from Thorne.

On one hand, Cress thought that Thorne was acting childish and selfish. Why did he want to jeopardize their lives for a simple cargo ship? A ship that he had stolen, no less. On the other hand, she knew that the Rampion meant a lot to Thorne for some reason, and she figured that as a fugitive on the run, it was probably the only thing that he really felt attached to anymore. And since he had gone through such trouble to steal it, she tried to understand that it must be difficult for him to part with it willingly. After awhile, when the conversation was going nowhere, they decided to think on it—or at least, that Thorne should think on it.

Wolf then began to explain a bit about what life was like on Luna—at least how it had been until he had been recruited into the Queen's Army. Cress found herself drifting in her thoughts, as she personally had no desire to hear anything about the people who had turned against her, isolated her, and then tried to kill her. She observed the others instead, and saw Kai and Cinder listening intently. Kai stood quietly by Cinder, looking as though he were attuned to her every move. It was as if he didn't want to let her out of his reach. At one point, Kai moved his hand very subtly to Cinder's, and gently squeezed it. She squeezed back, and they both glanced at each other shyly. She could tell by their glances that in that brief second, no one else existed to them but the other. It was like watching a romantic drama, and Cress couldn't help leaning closer to Thorne to gush about what she saw. To her dismay, Thorne let out a low whistle.

Kai and Cinder let go of each other instantly. Wolf stopped talking. And for the first time ever, Cress wanted to smack Thorne.

"Well, well, well," said Thorne, smirking as he crossed his arms, "do our favorite two royals need some... _alone time_?"

Kai set his jaw in a firm line, while the look on Cinder's face would have burned Thorne to the ground if only he could have seen it. Cress cringed. She knew Thorne was trying to get a rise out of them, and she didn't like it.

Iko, however, clasped her hands together and sighed deeply. "They are so adorable! I predicted this! I did!"

"Iko," said Cinder through gritted teeth, " _situation appropriateness._ "

Thorne puckered his lips and made a kissy noise. Cress thought she might die of mortification for the both of them.

"Princess, no need to get riled up, this is nothing compared to what the paparazzi is going to do when they get a hold of this story."

"Shut it, Thorne, if you know what's good for you," Cinder seethed.

"Cinder, you mistake my intentions," he replied, not phased at all by her threat. "I'm so glad you two have sorted everything out. Now we won't have to deal with all the Kai-Cinder angst anymore."

"Yeah, yeah, you're hilarious," said Kai, turning back to Wolf and putting an arm around Cinder almost protectively. Cress thought this was good idea, because Cinder looked like she was ready to charge Thorne. "Can we please continue?"

"Indeed," said Wolf, looking frustrated.

"Don't you two need a chaperone, though?" asked Thorne, ignoring them.

"Carswell Thorne—I swear—"

"Iko—back me up here," he continued. "Do a quick search on inter-planetary dating. Or even on courtship regulations between royal heirs. I think you guys might be breaking a whole lot of rules."

Iko looked a little flustered but a computing look came over her and it was clear that she was searching the net for the actual rules.

"Thank you, _Captain Thorne_ ," said Kai, trying to unclench his jaw in a show of self-restraint, "but as the Emperor of _my own country,_ I do believe that I'm well aware of how these things work."

"Oh!" exclaimed Iko, a look of concern coming on her face. "Cinder, there are a lot of rules here based on treaties that have been made over the years! I've scanned them for you though, and it does seem like all dates must be supervised by a chaperone so as to preserve the...uh...virtue of the couple. Not really sure what that means."

Thorne burst out laughing. "This is great! Stars I wish I could see right now!"

Kai rubbed one hand over his temple, clearly trying to hide the red tint that was sweeping over his face. He kept one arm securely fastened around Cinder, though, who seemed to be at a loss for words, but was still shooting daggers at Thorne with her eyes.

Iko continued. "It also says here that because you are an heir from a non-Earthen nation and want to be with an heir of an Earthen nation, you're not actually allowed to be together at all. You would have to make a special type of treaty to join the two nations in order to be together. Oh! Oh Cinder! You would have to _marry_ Kai." At that, Iko began to shriek with joy.

Wolf cleared his throat. "Um, thank you, Iko, for—"

"Yes, thank you indeed, Iko, for clearing that up," interrupted Thorne. "I'm happy to chaperone. After all, I'm second oldest. Of course, you could go with Wolf, but considering that he's an ex-operative, I'd say he's the scarier option of the two. Probably like an overprotective older brother, if you get my drift. The kind with a hidden gun in the basement."

He flashed another grin, and this time Cress surprised herself by actually following through with her thoughts and consequently smacking him in the ribs.

"Ow, Cinder!"

"It was me," she said quietly, feeling guilty already.

"Cress? What gives?"

"Stop trying to embarrass them."

"I'm just teasing them, Cress. They should be able to handle it."

"Well I think they're romantic!" she said, gaining more confidence and conviction. "And if they want to be together, they should be able to be together! You shouldn't...make people feel like it's wrong to love someone! And you should just stop being mean. You're acting—you're acting like a bully!"

Everyone turned to stare at her. Thorne raised his eyebrow in a look of surprise that mixed with confusion. Then he softened, and held his arm out to her.

"Hey, are you mad at me?"

"Maybe," she replied, crossing her arms.

"I've never heard you even come close to having an outburst before. Why does this upset you so much?"

Because love was a beautiful thing. Because at least _someone_ should get to be together after waiting so long to find the right person, even if she couldn't be. Because Thorne should be romantic, not stupid. Because... "I've never heard you be so rude before."

Thorne scowled. "Finally getting to see the real me, are you?"

She looked away, uncomfortable that everyone was watching them bicker. She felt so bad for Cinder and Kai and for having been the one who told Thorne about them in the first place.

"Hey," said Kai, walking over to her. "Don't worry about him. Cinder and I are fine."

"Whoa, the Emperor to the rescue! What a surprise!" said Thorne, waving his hands dramatically and sounding more bitter than she had ever heard him.

"I think we should just get back to talking about Luna and all that," Cress muttered.

"Yes, _please_." said Wolf. She had almost forgotten about him. He probably felt very awkward. "Can we get back to my plan?"

"Fine," grumbled Thorne.

"We need to practice fighting."

Cress shrunk back as Wolf explained some tactical moves that they could all work on. She wanted to run away and hide. She was no fighter.

Wolf crossed his arms. "Alright then, let's partner up."

Cinder moved to stand by Kai and Thorne asked for Cress to come closer to him.

"I think I should be with Kai," she stated in a voice that was barely audible.

"What?" asked Thorne.

"I was just thinking that we're both more unfamiliar with fighting." This time her voice came out more clearly.

"You can fight with me," Thorne insisted. "I know your weaknesses better."

Thorne frowned when she didn't say anything. Cress shrugged uncomfortably and glanced at Kai for approval, so he nodded at her and flashed her a quick thumbs up. Cinder looked at them quizzically.

"No," said Wolf, surprising her. "The Emperor with Thorne and Cress with Cinder. It's more evenly matched."

Now it was Kai's turn to protest. "How so?"

"Cinder, you can't control Cress because she's a shell, and for the same reason she can't control you either. Think about the Lunar guards that attacked us while we were on the palace roof. They were not able to use mind control on you since they don't have a strong gift and therefore are easily controlled by a thaumaturge. They only fought with the normal fighting skills of a guard. This time we are training with more focus on physicality than on mentality. Since Cinder is really the only one who can glamour anyone, the rest of us need to be prepared to fight if we get the chance. You need to learn how to defend yourselves."

"Why am I with Kai?" asked Thorne.

"Neither of you have had any real training in fighting and you're of similar physical build. Neither of you are Lunar," stated Wolf matter-of-factly.

"Speak for yourselves," said Thorne. "I was the one who shot all the guards on the rooftop. Plus, I was in the military. I don't need any help 'defending myself.'"

Wolf frowned. "How long were you in the military?"

Cinder snorted. "For like, three months."

"We do get trained in fighting," said Thorne indignantly.

"Well," said Wolf slowly, looking like he was going to lose his patience very soon, "we'll change partners later so everyone gets to practice with everyone, but let's start like this. Thorne, since you're, uh, visually impaired right now, maybe it will lower you to Kai's level and it will be even after all."

"Lower him to my level?" asked Kai, sounding offended. "I've taken some self-defense classes too."

"You have?" Cinder turned to look at him.

"Don't sound so surprised," said Kai.

"Hey!" interrupted Thorne, "Wolf's right! I am blind. This wouldn't be a fair fight."

Wolf growled, and everyone quieted down. "We are _just_ practicing. Thorne, if that means that you have to throw yourself at the Emperor so that he can get some practice in, and you can get more practice feeling what's it like to be attacked while you're blind, then you will do precisely that. Just try to keep your egos in check for the rest of the day, will you?"

Kai and Thorne both glowered but didn't say anything. Cinder was looking from one to the other, doubt etched all over her features. Cress felt her hands grow sweaty when she realized that she was about to face off with a cyborg. Seeing her nervous reaction, Cinder smiled at her kindly.

"Cress, I'm not going to hurt you. We're not just going to start fighting each other spontaneously—this is going to be with Wolf's instructions. You'll get some kicks in too!"

This didn't really make Cress feel any better.

"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Iko. "I'm certainly not fighting you again, Wolf! No offense."

"No matter," he said gruffly. "I won't be fighting, just coaching. If it's okay with you, I could use you for a few demonstrations, though."

"Oh," said Iko, "well only if it means all my limbs stay intact. You nearly ruined my body, even if you were being controlled by Sybil Mira."

"Your limbs will stay intact," promised Wolf.

Iko nodded and Wolf began to demonstrate a few moves. He spoke the names of the moves out loud so Thorne would hear what was going on. Then they broke into their pairs and practiced. Cress quickly became tired of blocking, kicking, punching, tripping, and everything else Wolf was showing them how to do. Cinder was right though—it wasn't as bad as Cress had imagined before. The moves were calculated and pre-determined, so that Cress knew when to move out of the way or where to hit. She knew it wouldn't be like this in a real battle, but at least she was learning a few steps.

Wolf came over to watch them and began to show Cress how to slip out of Cinder's grasp when she held her down. She thought this was particularly useful, considering that only a few days ago she had nearly been choked to death by one of the Lunar guards. After what seemed like ages of practicing, she was sweating. She had managed to block Cinder a few times, and every once in awhile was getting in a good offensive move. She was just starting to feel proud of herself, when Wolf let out another exasperated growl.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said under his breath.

She wasn't sure what he was referring to until she heard the scuffling behind her grow louder and angrier. Heart sinking, she spun around and almost collided with Cinder, who had also doubled forward. Kai and Thorne were practically wrestling each other, each one scrambling to shove the other down to the ground. Cress wanted to believe that they were just practicing, but the slightly unhinged looks on their faces made it painfully clear that this was personal.

"Okay," said Cinder. "We all know you're big, strong men with a lot to offer. Now cut it out, both of you!"

"He—started it!" exclaimed Kai, only pushing himself more into Thorne. Cress didn't doubt it, since she knew who of the two would be more likely to provoke a real fight.

"Don't make me glamour both of you!" said Cinder, but Cress saw that she was twiddling her fingers nervously.

They didn't let go of each other. She saw Kai lean closer to Thorne and mutter something to him that was apparently only audible to Wolf, who raised an eyebrow and began to walk away. The look of anger that flashed on Thorne's face, though, was unmistakable.

"You think—you know—everything—" Thorne grunted, trying to get a grip on Kai's collar.

_Thud._

Cress watched in horror as Thorne punched Kai right in the stomach. He doubled over onto the ground, holding his side and panting. Thorne stood victoriously over him, his voice dripping with arrogance. "That's right, pretty boy. How are those self-defense classes working now?"

"That's it," said Cinder, and launched herself at Thorne, who winced at the sudden impact. Kai sprang to his feet and quickly pulled Cinder off of Thorne. When she tried to run back at him, Kai wrapped his arms around her stomach, restraining her.

"Let me go, Kai," she said through her teeth, but he only tightened his embrace and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"It's not worth it," he said. "Plus, I'm fine."

"Yeah, Cinder," said Thorne, rolling up his sleeves. "Chill out. Your boyfriend and I were just having a man-to-man chat."

"There are a few things a man needs to own up to in order to claim that title," said Kai quietly, a warning glint emanating from his eyes.

Thorne glared, and Cress felt nervousness pinch her gut. She hadn't ever known Thorne to lose his calm. What was wrong with him? He had just _punched Kai_. She didn't want him to do anything else he might regret later.

"Well maybe as an _emperor_ , you should have—"

Thorne stopped abruptly as Cress slid her hand into his.

"Captain?"

Silence.

"Yeah?" he finally asked.

"Will you take a break with me? I'm not feeling so well."

He seemed conflicted for a moment, and pressed his lips into a straight line. Then, he exhaled.

"Yeah sure, Cress, let's take a break."

She led him out of the cargo bay, firmly guiding him with her hand. They both walked in silence. She reached her room and pushed him in, almost slamming the door behind her.

"Where are we?"

"In my room."

"Is that so?"

His signature smirk returned to his face. She watched as he moved towards one wall, then turned around and changed directions until he reached her bed. Casually and carefree, he plopped into her bed and laid down.

"Care to join me, Mrs. Smith?" he said, winking at her. His voice was over-saturated with cockiness and had a distinct seductive tone. She hated it. In any other circumstance, she probably would have become flustered at the idea of Carswell Thorne lying in her bed. But now she could only stare at him and wonder if it were normal for a boy to have so many mood swings.

When she didn't reply, Thorne shrugged and laced his fingers together under his head, propping himself up a bit. "Suit yourself. Not really anywhere else to sit in these little rooms."

"Yes," she said, "maybe the next time you steal a ship you should make sure the sleeping quarters have a better design."

At that, he furrowed his brow and turned towards her, curious. "Sarcasm, Cress? I think hanging out with Cinder and Iko is rubbing off on you the wrong way."

Cress let out an exasperated sound. "What is going on with you?"

"Me? I'm peachy."

Cress crossed her arms and willed herself to have patience. It was hard to believe that only this morning she was barely able to keep it together around him, and now all she wanted to do was wipe the smirk off of his face and have a real conversation with the Thorne she knew and loved.

"What is going on with you?" she repeated.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm...frustrated with you."

"Why don't you go tell the Emperor about it?" he said nonchalantly, but Cress could see a slight change in his facial features. A flicker of...something...passed over him briefly.

"The Emperor?"

"Yeah, you know, your new best friend."

Cress exhaled. "Why do you hate him so much?"

Thorne shrugged. "I don't hate him at all."

"You're pretty rude to him."

"Aww, is that hurting your feelings?"

"Stop it!" she almost yelled, feeling like she wanted to cry.

"Stop what?"

"Stop acting like a different person. Stop being mean."

"This is how I am, Cress. Take it or leave it, darling."

"Stop talking to me like that." Her lip was starting to tremble. "And stop—stop acting like you don't care that you're making me feel bad!"

She felt a tear slide down her cheek and she slumped to the ground, not wanting him to hear her cry.

A minute passed. Thorne sighed.

"Cress?" he asked hesitantly. He pushed himself into a sitting position, but after considering a moment, he slid down onto the ground next to her. He put his hands over his eyes and shook his head.

"Oh spades, I'm such a jerk. I'm sorry, Cress."

He reached his hand out for her, but she didn't take it. He let it fall with another sigh.

"I do care."

She looked up at him.

"I hate that you're mad at me."

"Then why don't you stop being stupid?" she sniffed.

He let out a small laugh. "Easier said than done."

"You're not acting like yourself," she tried again.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. It's just—I've had some things on my mind lately, and after breakfast I think they just came bubbling up to the surface. It's not your fault though. I never want to make you feel bad."

"It was easy just a few minutes ago."

He bit his lip. "Yeah. Bit of a defense mechanism, I guess. Sometimes it's easier for me to act like I don't have a care in the world than to face my problems."

"What are your problems?"

He reached for her hand again, and this time she didn't pull away. "Oh, nothing for you to worry about, Cress. Just some guy stuff."

"Guy stuff with Kai?"

Thorne remained silent for a minute. "Right...yes, exactly. Guy stuff with Kai."

"You really don't hate him?"

"No. After knowing how much Cinder likes him, it'd be impossible to hate him. Plus, he's made it clear now that he likes her too."

"But you're mean to him."

"Like I said, it's just guy stuff. Sometimes...things aren't really about what they seem," he said cryptically. "I didn't mean to lose my cool so much today, though. But Cress, he doesn't need to know that, okay?"

"I think it would be nice if you apologized."

Thorne shook his head. "You're sweet. But that's not gonna happen."

"He is the _Emperor of the country where you were thrown into jail_."

"You think I don't know that?"

"It couldn't hurt to show him some respect."

"It'll hurt my pride?" he offered.

"Ugh, you and your stupid pride!" she exclaimed.

He laughed. "I know."

"Captain?" she asked, when they had fallen into silence once more.

"Yeah?"

"I don't like fighting with you."

"Trust me, Cress, I've fought with girls before, and this isn't really fighting."

"Well, whatever it is, I don't like it."

He pulled her into a hug. "Me neither."

She leaned into him, relieved to have the real Carswell Thorne so close to her once more. She tightened her grip, but instead of pulling her closer, he pried away her hands and got to his feet. She blinked up at him, surprised at his sudden movement.

"I told you before, I don't want to hurt you, Cress," he said softly. His expression made her want to wrap her arms around him again, but his stance told her that he didn't want it.

"Then don't."

He looked like he was about to say something, but shook his head and began to walk towards the door.

"Thorne."

He hesitated with his hand on the door frame, then turned to look at her. Cress could have sworn he could see every confused look etched on her face.

"I'm not sure that's a promise I can make."

With that, he walked out, leaving Cress alone on the floor. Thoughts scrambled, she tried to hold on to something concrete. After dinner, she decided, she would begin hacking into Luna's records. That, at least, was something she could understand.


	13. Chapter 13

Kai held his ice pack gingerly against his stomach. A bruise was already beginning to form, even though it had only been about an hour since he'd been hit. He was really only sitting in the Medbay, though, because Cinder had insisted that he take some time to rest. She clearly thought he was much more delicate than he actually was. Maybe in another circumstance he would have protested more, but having Cinder try to take care of him had been really sweet. He also hoped that listening to her would help Cinder be just a little less irritated with him for engaging with Thorne.

He definitely didn't feel like he deserved the ice pack, though, because—if he were honest with himself—he had known the hit was coming. Kai liked to think he was normally a patient man, but something about being trapped on a ship with the opportunity to "practice fighting" with Carswell Thorne practically handed to him on a silver platter had brought out a bit more of his childish side. He'd seen how riled up Thorne had been since breakfast, and taunting him had just been way too easy. He was sick of Thorne's condescending manner and his teasing comments about Kai's relationship with Cinder. So when Thorne had begun wrestling him for real, he just couldn't resist letting off some steam, and then throwing in a _special_ comment of his own. The thought of the look on Thorne's face after he had made the comment was totally worth the ache he had in his gut now.

Plus, it had been a bit of set-up—and Thorne had certainly taken the bait. It was the only confirmation Kai needed in order to know that Thorne did in fact care for Cress. Maybe it wasn't necessarily romantic—though Kai had a strong sense that it was—but at least he didn't think Thorne was jerking Cress along anymore. He was definitely protective of her, and Kai thought that was a good development. And, he thought smugly, Thorne was certainly bothered by the new friendship that he had developed with Cress. Finally, it seemed, Kai might not be the only one who harbored some jealous feelings aboard the Rampion.

Kai's only regret was that now he felt particularly embarrassed about the scene they'd made. Wolf was definitely angry, and their scuffle had caused the whole group to stop training and split up. He wondered what Cress was doing with Thorne, and felt a bit worried that he might have caused an even bigger rift between them. But on the other hand, he was almost _proud_ to see that Cress had begun to make her opinions known in front of Thorne, and that she had recognized that he was acting like an idiot. Maybe she would see him in a bit more of a realistic light from now on.

Not that it was any of his business, of course.

Cinder had insisted that she go check on the two of them this time, instead of him, since she didn't trust Kai and Thorne to be alone in the same room at a time like this. Kai thought she was over-reacting a bit, but he was more than happy to let Cinder deal with it. Better not to push Thorne even more.

Feeling a bit useless just sitting there with his icepack, he decided that he should probably act like the Emperor he was—a task that was proving difficult these days—and see what was happening on Earth. Finding the closest netscreen, he scanned the newsfeeds. Most of the feeds were discussing more attacks and war strategies. It was terrifying. At any other time, he'd have been unable to pry his eyes away from this type of news. After all, he'd only spent the last month obsessing over every single thing Levana did to torment him and his people. But sitting there on the Rampion, with the inability to communicate with the other Earthen leaders, let alone do anything useful to help the situation, the reports just made him feel like an even worse Emperor than he already thought he was. Would he ever stop feeling like a failure?

He continued to search the news for something else, until finally another report caught his eye.

_Linh Cinder: Lonely Cyborg Turned Obsessed Stalker?_

Already feeling that nervous twinge awaken inside him whenever any news about Cinder came on, he turned on the feed.

 _Despite the current state of events, speculation continues regarding the recent kidnapping of Emperor Kaito. Konn Torin, temporary leader of the Eastern Commonwealth during the Emperor's absence, confirmed that the Emperor was kidnapped by the cyborg fugitive, Linh Cinder. Despite his insistence that Ms. Linh may in fact be fighting on_ behalf _of the Emperor, many have begun to question why a cyborg Lunar would bother to kidnap the Emperor in the first place. Despite the Emperor's insistence that Ms. Linh was his personal guest, the embarrassing display of affection and so-called "ball fall" at the coronation ceremony nonetheless made it clear that this particular cyborg Lunar might not be trustworthy at all, but rather, an obsessed and unstable Kainatic._

Kai grimaced. He had always hated the term the media had given the girls that worshipped him. He had hoped that after becoming the Emperor, these fans would stop treating him like a celebrity, but rather the authority figure that he was supposed to be.

 _Of course, conspiracy theorists have postulated the extremes of every possible argument. However, when digging deeper into Linh Cinder's past, the heart of the issue may in fact be a simple one: a lonely cyborg who lost her grip on reality, believing herself to be fated for love with His Royal Majesty. In an exclusive interview with Linh Adri, the cyborg's former guardian, she confirmed that Ms. Linh actually had no friends during her stay as a ward with their family. "Cinder was a lonely, disturbed child, always playing with greased objects and androids. In fact, she believed herself to be_ friends _with our household android! She was always jealous of her step-sisters, who were quite popular. She likely had a secret obsession with the Emperor all along and was just too embarrassed to say anything. We now know, of course, that he was likely brainwashed by her Lunar powers, since it is unfathomable that His Majesty would ever invite such a disgrace to the ball. Furthermore, I'm convinced—now more than ever—in wake of the kidnapping, that with Cinder's capability as a mechanic she likely built some sort of portable, impenetrable contraption in our basement to hold Emperor Kaito hostage when the time came. I'm so ashamed that I wasn't able to warn anyone before. With another dangerous fugitive in tow, I worry for His Majesty's safety, both physically and emotionally."_

Kai glared at the screen, feeling revulsion at the words of Cinder's step-mother. He couldn't believe her audacity. If he made it back to Earth alive, he would have a few choice words with her, at the very least. No wonder Cinder had hated growing up with her. And now, after everything that had happened, the only person who was supposed to love her as a child had turned her back on her once again. And worse, ridiculed her publicly and tried to make her look like an embarrassment to society.

_Anonymous hate mail has been pouring into the palace, likely from Emperor Kaito's female admirers, threatening to kill Ms. Linh if anything were to happen to their beloved Emperor. Furthermore, a ransom video, which was later proven to be fake, has been turned into a song-and-dance animation and is widely circulating the net with great popularity._

The video that showed Cinder infamously falling down the palace steps and losing her foot had been combined with footage of Kai tripping ages ago at a press conference, and it had been molded together so it looked like Cinder was falling on top of him, smothering him. Then there was a shot of a Kai lookalike tied up with a disturbing pair of handcuffs, and a frazzled girl dressed up as Cinder threatening to kill Kai if she wasn't permitted to marry him. The voice of whoever had created the video made Cinder sound like a freakish, crazy, and indeed obsessed stalker. It was cringe-worthy, to say the least. Kai felt embarrassed for both of them.

"Well, that's flattering."

Kai jumped, and turned guiltily to Cinder, who had entered the room without him noticing. "Sorry, I was just, uh, catching up on recent news."

She didn't smile. "Freaked out yet?"

"Cinder, come on, this is ridiculous. No one's going to be interested in this nonsense."

"I think the three million hits would prove otherwise."

Kai stared at her weakly. "Three million? How do know?"

She tapped her head, and Kai nodded. "Oh, right. Is there really…hate mail?"

"Apparently you're quite popular. But we both already knew that."

He wasn't thrilled about the way she said that. "Hey, come here," he gestured to her. She stayed put.

"Thorne is right."

Kai let out a small chuckle. "Did I just hear that come out of your mouth?"

"Only if you never tell him I said that."

"Deal. What is he right about?"

"If people ever find out that we like each other for real, this type of news will just keep coming. Everyone will just think that I seduced you."

He smiled at her. "You might as well be seducing me. I told you, I can't stop thinking about you." He had been trying to be romantic, but she gave him an annoyed look.

"You know what I mean. With my glamour."

"I don't really care what they think anymore. And soon, everyone will know who you really are."

She shook her head. "That's the point though, isn't it? It shouldn't matter that I'm a princess. They hate me just because I'm a cyborg and a Lunar. Both of which I can't help. It's like they don't even see that I'm a person."

Kai didn't know what to say. It was true. And it made a little prick of anger begin to boil for Cinder. He knew she just wanted to be normal, accepted, and loved. He knew the feeling. "Try not to think about it too much. Plus, they'd do the same thing to me if they suddenly discovered I was cyborg or Lunar."

"No they wouldn't, you're too good looking."

He grinned. "After so much rejection from you, I'm thrilled to hear those words come out of your mouth."

"With comments like that, you're more like Thorne than you may realize," she said dryly.

He tried out his best Thorne-like smirk, and she laughed, so he managed to pull her closer to him. He loved the feeling. As he wrapped his arms around her, he couldn't help thinking about their kisses the night before, and before he knew it, a blush was forming on his face. She really _was_ seducing him, it seemed. But more than that, a warm feeling spread over him when she was near. For the first time in a long time, he didn't feel alone.

"You need to give yourself more credit, too. I thought you were very attractive from the first day I met you at the market. Remember? I even told Dr. Erland you were pretty." She looked down, but he thought he saw her try to suppress a small smile. Kai made a mental note that she probably wasn't complimented enough growing up with the Linh family, and just wasn't used to flattery. He could work on that though; he wanted to make her feel special. He hoped he'd have more time to really show her what she was worth.

"Now, I am interested in learning a bit more about this basement of yours. It sounds like you had an interesting collection going on down there."

She made a face. "Yeah, remind me to show you that cage I had specially prepared for you for when the time came to hold you hostage. And, bonus, it shrinks to fit in my cyborg hand in case I ever got thrown into jail."

He laughed, and after a few seconds she finally smiled too. "See?" he tried to re-assure her, "the whole thing is ridiculous." He paused. "So, how'd it go with Cress and Thorne?"

Cinder shrugged. "Not really sure. Cress was eating dinner by herself, and she said she didn't want to talk about it. And since I have no desire to talk to Thorne right now…" She trailed off, looking thoughtful. "I'm not gonna push it. Honestly, I'm a little worried about her."

"How so?"

"I think you were right about her having a crush on Thorne, and I'm just not sure Thorne is going to be able to handle that in a good way."

Kai was glad that Cinder was observant enough to gather that. "I think you're probably right. But maybe you could, you know, talk to her a bit more. Maybe about…girl stuff?"

"Girl stuff?" Cinder looked at him wearily. "Please. I think Iko is a better candidate for that job. But I guess you're right, I don't really know too much about her. It's hard to pry her away from Thorne, isn't it? They're awfully attached to each other."

"It makes sense," he said, feeling the need to stick up for Cress. "He's the first person she met and they did go through a few traumatic events together."

"I know. It's just confusing sometimes with all the different feelings aboard the Rampion. We have so much to think about already. Why are you so protective of Cress lately anyway?"

He shrugged. "I'm not really protective," he heard himself lying and tried to correct himself. "I'm a _little_ protective, I guess. I'm just trying to save her from a possibly bad situation."

"Kai." Cinder looked at him sternly. "Cress doesn't need saving. Cress saved _us_. None of us, especially not you, would be here if it weren't for her willingness to betray Queen Levana."

"I know… I see your point. I didn't mean it like that. It's just that she's helped us so much, and she's new to this whole human interaction thing, so I'm just trying to repay the favor a bit. Help her out." He didn't want to say any more, even though Cinder had clearly already figured it all out. "Anyway, do you want to see if she wants to join us?" he asked instead.

"Oh, she's totally wrapped up in her hacking work now. It's kind of something you have to see. I mean, I thought I got absorbed in my mechanical work, but Cress—she goes into this zone. She's trying to get the data that Wolf requested."

"With your mechanical skills and her hacking skills, you two make quite the pair. The world better get ready!"

He'd meant it as a compliment, but the look on her face showed that she hadn't received it that way.

"Hey, Kai? In another life, what do you think you'd be if you weren't an Emperor?"

It was a question he'd actually thought about a million times, particularly when he was younger. But he still hadn't figured out the right answer. "I'm not really sure, honestly. It might have come a little earlier—ok, _a lot_ earlier—than I expected, but I always knew this was the path I would take."

"Do you…like being the Emperor?" She looked at him with apprehension, and he could tell that her question wasn't really about him.

"Having doubts again?" he said kindly, lacing his hand into hers.

"Always."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

Ze'ev was antsy. Agitated. Restless.

More than usual.

He paced around the cockpit, unable to stand still. _That_ he was used to. What he wasn't used to was the amount of tension he felt pent up inside of him as he tried to wait patiently for Cress to hack the Lunar records. She'd been nervous about his presence initially as he watched her do her magic—because to him, that's really what it looked like—but after awhile she got used to him being there and fell into a sort of hacking trance that seemed hard to distract her from even if he had wanted to.

Ze'ev wracked his brains for anything from his past that could be useful. There had to have been _something_ that he had overlooked. Something that they could use. Something that would show them where to land, where to find safety, how to better plan their attack.

He had been part of an army for so long. He was used to calculating precise attacks. He even knew how to lead the attacks. And Ze'ev certainly had a knack for finding weaknesses in his enemies. But a strange, small part of his subconscious was waiting for instructions from Jael. He despised the programmed, mutated part of his genetic makeup that caused him to yearn for another master. It was one of the things that had made him want to run away in the first place. Ze'ev never wanted to be part of the Queen's Army. Never.

But it could have been worse. He could be part of the pack of soldiers that now ran rampant on Earth. At least he could still think for himself—and he had surely thought more than he had ever done in the past few weeks, days, and hours. Levana was mocking him for his betrayal. Laughing from afar at his torment, misery, and helplessness.

Scarlet.

He knew that because of what he was and what he had done, he didn't deserve for anything good to happen to him.

But _Scarlet._

She was beautiful. She was kind. She was brave. She was good. She deserved everything that he didn't.

Ze'ev clenched his fists. He couldn't allow himself to morph back into the corpse-like state that he'd succumbed to when he found out that Sybil had taken Scarlet. As much as he grieved, he needed to be strong now.

_He would avenge her._

Being a Lunar Special Operative would finally come in handy. And it would all start tomorrow.

_If_ they were able to figure out where to go. And if they could figure out how to reach Levana without her reaching them first. It was up to Cress now.

After what seemed like hours, she motioned for him that she was ready for the others to join her. He quickly grabbed Cinder and Kai, who he had heard chatting in the Medbay nearby.

"Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find too much information about Jacin Clay that we didn't already have." Ze'ev let out a slow breath while Cress pulled up one of the screens and pointed at it. "However, according to the Lunar Court records, his trial is still on-going."

"What trial?" asked Cinder.

"He's on trial for treason. According to the files I've been able to hack into, he is on trial for the actions that occurred when Mistress Sybil and him boarded the Rampion, and the events thereafter. He claims he's innocent, but they're accusing him of helping Cinder evade capture and then plotting to kidnap the Emperor."

He grunted. Miserable traitor. "Good."

"Can we see some footage of the trial?" asked Kai.

Cress shook her head and turned back to the screen. "No. There wouldn't be any. Everyone would use their glamour, and as you learned during your time with Levana, having cameras would reveal everyone's true face. They do keep digital records of everything that occurs, though."

"I wouldn't have expected that," said Cinder.

Ze'ev shrugged. "We may be Lunar, but we're not savages." He paused. Reconsidered. "Well, some of us aren't. It still needs to be a functioning society."

"I know what you mean, though," said Kai. "It seems above Levana to hold a trial."

"Having a meeting without me?"

Everyone turned to look at Thorne. He was standing in the entryway, leaning against the door frame casually.

"You were in your room," said Cinder defensively. "After what happened with Kai, I—"

"You what? Planned to ignore me the rest of the evening?"

"No, I just wanted to give you some time to compose yourself. Cress only just finished hacking."

"It's true," Cress chimed in. But Thorne didn't even turn in the direction of her voice, like he normally did. Ze'ev didn't give him the chance, because he was already at Thorne's side in an instant, pulling him closer to the group.

"Hey, easy on the jacket," said Thorne.

When they neared Kai, Ze'ev practically yanked him towards the both of them. Kai yelped, totally caught off-guard. He knew that Kai was still afraid of him. Maybe in this situation it would come in handy.

"Your Majesty, I apologize," he said, though he knew he probably didn't sound sorry at all. "But this is necessary. Both of you listen to me carefully because I am not going to repeat myself. Shake hands and get over it. We don't have time for this."

Thorne tried to pull himself out of Ze'ev's grip. "I'm over it already."

Kai set his jaw and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Me too."

"Who put you in charge, anyway?" asked Thorne.

" _Princess Selene_ is in charge," he retorted through gritted teeth. Sometimes being part of the pack made things easier. You didn't talk things through. You didn't test each other's patience. You just fought. This situation, on the other hand, required a mentality that Ze'ev wasn't accustomed to.

"Actually," Cinder chimed in, "I'd prefer if we listen to Wolf for this one, as we discussed this afternoon. He's Lunar, he somewhat knows his way around, and he's an ex-operative. We need all the help we can get, and Wolf is our best shot."

"Thank you," he replied curtly, letting both of the men go. Thorne adjusted his jacket and Kai shuffled over to stand closer to Cinder again.

He turned back to Cress, who looked extremely nervous as she flitted her eyes between Kai and Thorne. "Cress, you were saying?"

She cleared her throat. "Ah—yes. I have managed to find the standard demographic information on Jacin Clay, though I'm sure I could find more if I had time to dig deeper. I have his address, parents, schooling, status among the guards, and some reports about him from the thaumaturges, but not too much else. He seems to stay out of trouble. It does say that he had worked as a guard for Princess Winter as well. I'm not sure, though, if tracking him will lead to anything concrete. The trial records indicate that they haven't released him."

"The records, Cress" said Thorne, "are they the full transcript?"

"Yes."

"Well maybe there's something in there that can be useful anyway. Can you send them to Cinder and Iko to download?"

"Good idea," said Cinder.

"Anyway," said Cress. "I think I have something better. Possibly something...helpful." She bit her lip and looked at them wearily. "But it also might be really bad. I'm not sure, I don't-"

"Cress," said Thorne sternly, as if he could steady her with his voice alone. "What did you find?"

"Well, there haven't been too many trials lately, and I wanted to see what other types of things they do in the Lunar Court. Just because...I was curious."

"Okay..." said Ze'ev, also wondering where she was going with this.

Cress took a deep breath and spoke so fast that she almost seemed to be reciting something from memory, as though she needed to get the information off of her chest as quickly as possible.

"There was a trial only about a week ago and the strange thing about it was that it was the trial of an Earthen which according to the records has never happened because there are no Earthens on Luna and so it brought out a lot of people to the court and the Earthen made a few disturbances and Princess Winter was there and—"

"Cress..." said Thorne again, but this time he was gentler. "Take a deep breath. What are you talking about, an Earthen?"

"Sybil Mira brought an Earthen to the court for questioning."

"Sybil Mira?" they all said in unison.

"Yes," said Cress slowly, looking nervous again. "They didn't provide the name of the Earthen but it was a female and she was under questioning for helping Linh Cinder escape." She looked up at Ze'ev, her eyes wide with worry.

Ze'ev felt the breath get stuck in his lungs. But—wait—did she—?

"Is it Scarlet!?" Cinder's mouth formed the words that Ze'ev's brain could barely process. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Is—is she—" he could barely choke out the words. He felt his protective instincts kick in. "Tell me _everything._ "

Cress gulped. "I—I warned you that it might not all be good."

" _Is she still alive?_ " he practically barked.

"I think so," she replied hurriedly, "records indicate that Princess Winter took her after the trial in order to practice her gift. She requested the Earthen specifically from Queen Levana."

"Practice her gift?" asked Kai.

"Lunars don't hold Earthens in any regard," said Wolf bitterly. "It probably means that since Winter is known to be ungifted, she is going to practice controlling Scarlet's mind in order to get better at using her glamour. This usually isn't comfortable for the Earthen."

Kai looked shocked at the thought. Ze'ev was beginning to understand exactly why all the Earthens feared Lunars so much. Sometimes, he feared them too.

"There's one more piece of bad news," said Cress quietly. Ze'ev turned to look at her and she shrank back. Cinder walked over to Cress and took her hand.

"It's okay, Cress, it's not your fault," said Cinder. "It's better if we know, right Wolf?" But Ze'ev couldn't even shake his head yes. He was just terrified to hear what could be worse.

"Scarlet wouldn't tell anyone where you went, Cinder. They wanted your precise location. When she didn't tell them, they...had her chop off her own finger."

Ze'ev felt bile in his mouth and clung to the one thought that kept him from tearing the Rampion to shreds in anger.

_He would avenge her._

Thorne cursed. "Oh, Scarlet."

"I'm so sorry, Wolf," said Kai. "But...if it just says they chopped off her finger..." he winced, "...then it probably does mean that she's still alive, right Cinder?"

"Right," said Cinder quickly. "I know it doesn't make it any better, Wolf, but...limbs can be fixed." She looked at her own hand. "The important thing is that Scarlet is alive."

"I think I know where she might be too," said Cress.

Ze'ev started. "You do?"

"Well, I know where Princess Winter lives. So, if she has Scarlet, I think finding Princess Winter might be the best place to start."

"Great work," said Cinder firmly, putting her hand on Cress's shoulder. "Wolf, are you okay?"

All he could do was clench his fists together tighter so all the energy went somewhere. He could feel himself begin to shake.

"We needed to find Princess Winter anyway. This is as good of a place to start as any." Cinder looked at him again for a response, but he could give none.

"That's right," said Thorne. "Let's go get Scarlet."

All of the pent up energy in Ze'ev's body seemed to crumble as the words sunk in. He collapsed to his knees, shaking all over. Scarlet was...she was going to be...there was _hope_!

He covered his face with his hands as tears threatened to spill out. Tears that he hadn't known he had. Tears that his subconscious had been saving for a worse situation. The situation he had kept telling himself had to be true, even if he hadn't wanted to believe it.

Suddenly, he felt arms try to wrap around him, and he stiffened, not used to having anyone touch him. To his surprise, it was Cress. "She's waiting for you," said Cress softly. "She's waiting for her Alpha star." At her words, he felt his body relax. Cress' sweet innocence was overwhelming. He let Cress try to hug him, though he realized that she could barely get her arms around his body. After a few moments, he let out a strangled laugh that mixed with a sob and hugged her back, lifting them both to their feet. She let out a little squeak of surprise, and he laughed some more.

Scarlet, he thought, _I'm coming_.

* * *

Cinder watched them, feeling incredibly moved at Wolf's embrace with Cress. She was having a hard time not becoming emotional herself, even though she knew that that they still faced an uphill battle. She felt a small bit of relief though, as if one of their burdens had been lifted. Just a bit. Hope was good, and it was something that they—she—needed at times like these.

She left Kai and walked over to Thorne, who was just leaning against the wall, arms crossed. A faint smile was playing on his lips.

"You know," she said, nudging him, "Cress is pretty special."

Thorne raised one eyebrow. "I'm glad you noticed."


	15. Chapter 15

Planning their arrival on Luna was exhausting. So exhausting, in fact, that Cinder was having trouble imagining being able to entice a nation of Lunars to overthrow their queen if the six of them could barely get past all of the problems associated with trying to land on the moon. It had taken them most of the night to prepare everything. She knew she should be getting some sleep, but as she lay in bed, her nerves were getting the best of her. A part of her wished that she could just overwhelm her programming enough to force a reboot. It was a childish thought.

Instead, she replayed everything in her mind over and over and over. Maybe if she thought about every angle for the hundredth time, a new idea would come to her—or at least a confirmation that they were making the right choices. With almost every plan in the past having gone awry in some way, Cinder was losing her ability to discern a good plan from a bad one. Or she was just sleep deprived and anxious.

Probably a combination of both.

It was encouraging that they had found Scarlet. Rather, it was encouraging that they at least knew _where_ they would likely find her if they could get there in time. The whole circumstance with Princess Winter having Scarlet, though, confused them all. Wolf had hoped earlier that the Princess might possibly be an ally to begin their stand against Levana, and yet now she seemed like another enemy and prime obstacle to their success. If she were willing to torture Scarlet, what else would she be capable of? Was she just as bad as Levana?

Kai had informed her of the cruel reputation of the Lunar royal family and tried—albeit gently—to warn her that it was possible that even her own mother, Queen Channary, had been just as evil as Levana. Who was to say that Winter wouldn't follow in the footsteps of her step-mother? She had grown up in that family. Granted, Kai didn't know too much, but his meetings with the other country leaders had given him a glimpse into all the rumors that circulated around the Lunar royal family. It might just be an evil bloodline. Of course, what didn't make sense was the rumor of Winter's scar—if Levana had forced her to mar her own face, why would the Princess remain loyal to her? Wouldn't she want to avenge her brutality? None of it made any sense.

Cinder chided herself for not having asked Jacin more about his loyalty to Princess Winter. What had he meant? What exactly was their relationship? She could have taken advantage of his extensive knowledge of Luna—she could have even glamoured a lot of information on the royal guard out of him. But she'd done nothing of the sort. She had been too preoccupied with her own problems to consider digging deeper. Now Winter was just another piece of a puzzle that seemed to have no solution. Cinder felt so stupid.

She had to let it go, though. None of them could look back on their mistakes anymore and try to analyze what they could have done differently. Wolf, Kai, Cress, and Cinder had exhausted this point over and over again throughout the night. Thorne seemed to be the only one who didn't have any regrets, except of course that he had gone blind. Cinder chewed the inside of her cheek at the thought. Hopefully his sight would come back soon. If her count was right, he was more than halfway through his eye drops, which meant that he got closer every day to getting his sight back. She hoped it would come sooner. Unfortunately, his inability to see was such a big liability at this crucial time in their plan. Even Cress had tried to convince him at some point to stay behind, but it had been no use. He was already angry enough about having to leave behind the Rampion.

Cinder was worried about them all. They were headed to Luna—where _everyone_ could use glamour. Kai and Thorne could be manipulated easily by any Lunar and used against them. Wolf could be manipulated by thaumaturges and also used against them. Cinder was still fine-tuning her glamour and couldn't protect the others while she protected herself. And Cress—Cress was just a shell. On one hand, maybe she could be an asset because she couldn't be manipulated, but on the other hand, she couldn't glamour anyone either. A part of her felt like they were leading Cress into a trap too. This was the country of _shell infanticide and experimentation_. What would they do when they found out that this particular shell had not only escaped but also dared to come back unlawfully? It was all such a big mess.

Worse still was trying to land on Luna. They'd underestimated just how many domes existed on that "rock in the sky," as Thorne liked to call it. Wolf had explained the need to regulate fake weather and daylight in order to emulate a more Earthen experience on Luna—which, if Cinder thought about it, was rather ironic considering that most of them were supposed to hate Earth. She supposed, though, that these adjustments would make things more bearable if she were ever forced to live there. Regardless, with the domes preventing them from landing on most surfaces of the inhabited moon as they had originally wanted to do, they would be forced to use one of the port tunnel entrances for the ships where the domes ended. If they landed accurately, they could escape into the tunnels and go directly into one of the sectors.

Since they knew were Scarlet was—in Artemisia—it was important to land somewhere near Artemisia to be able to rescue her on their way to find Queen Levana, who would likely be in the palace. However, it would be too risky to use any of the underground entrances there due to security personnel, even if Cress were able to disable radar and imaging of incoming ships as they approached. Instead, they'd chosen to land in a sector that was not so far away from Artemisia to make it unreachable, and yet not so close that their entrance would seem suspicious. The problem still remained of the Lunars who staffed the entrances, though.

Cress, of course, had been the one to suggest the idea that they were now incorporating into their plan. On a recent feed of Lunar news, an anchor had reported that one of the middle sector ports was under construction due to an unexpected onslaught of recent space debris. Some of the nearby neighborhoods had been vacated just to be safe, and this port entrance would be closed off to the public for the next month or so. Cress's idea was to sneak in during the early hours, when workers were still in bed.

"Stars you're brilliant!" Thorne had exclaimed, clamping a hand Cress's shoulder, only for Cress to practically disappear into her chair while she blushed. Cinder had been a bit skeptical, though.

"What about the port, though? Doesn't it sound like it's damaged?"

"It's possible," Wolf had remarked, scratching at the scruff on his chin pensively, "but Thorne is right. It's a good idea. We don't need to get all the way into the connecting tunnels; we just need to be able to land. If workers are able to be there safely, then it should be safe for us as well."

Iko had suggested that they also scan the port for damages when they got a bit closer using their radar and sensors. It would be harder on a podship, but after much consideration, they were sure it was their best shot. It was definitely risky, but there hadn't been any other ideas.

When they had exhausted every other thought, all of them had agreed to go pack a light bag and try to get some sleep. Cinder had hoped to spend some more time with Kai, but there just wasn't time for that. Everyone's nerves were on edge, and it was important to have their heads on straight for the next leg of their journey. She felt like she was going crazy lying in her bunk, though, so she decided to go take care of one more thing on her list.

Cinder pushed herself into a sitting position. She rubbed her eyes, rolled out a kink in her neck, and surveyed the room. This was not something she was looking forward to. In fact, she felt as though landing on the moon would go better than this. But it was necessary. Groaning into the empty space that was her room, she got up to go find Kai.

He was also awake. No surprise there. Cinder had learned in the past few days that he didn't sleep that much. She hadn't imagined the way his eyes always looked so tired when she'd seen him give press announcements, after all. Kai glanced up at her when she knocked lightly on his open door, an unreadable expression on his face. He was sitting on the floor of his room, looking into a little backpack that Thorne had told him to use from their supplies. It looked empty.

"I don't have anything to put in here, really. I just have these military clothes and my groom's clothes."

Cinder shrugged. "We don't really have too much. But we should probably leave the items that have American Republic insignia on it behind. Don't want to draw any more attention than necessary."

"So you think I should walk around in groom's clothes?"

"Hmm…I guess that would be pretty fancy. But I think everyone is bringing along the clothes they wore at the ball. You could maybe pair your slacks with one of the plain military t-shirts. Ditch the sash obviously. What do you think?"

Kai grinned. "I think Iko is rubbing off on you."

The thought of Iko made Cinder's heart plummet. "Kai, I think it's time for our…talk."

Kai nodded solemnly. "No use in putting it off any more."

He pushed himself off the floor and came to stand next to her. He gave her hand a squeeze. "You're making the right choice, Cinder."

Cinder was glad to have Kai's company, even though she knew she should talk to Iko on her own. No one knew her like she did. Upon discussing the matter with Kai, though, she had realized that perhaps his presence would help to soften the blow. It might also help her keep her own emotions in check. Even though she couldn't cry, she knew that she would want to. They found Iko chatting with Darla at the dashboard, and she was telling her all about the perks of having an escort body. Darla was telling Iko that she had obviously already had an escort body, and that she hadn't found it any different from her current state as a ship. Iko had a knowing smile on her face.

"Iko?" asked Cinder tentatively. Iko looked up. "Kai and I would like to speak with you."

Iko surveyed Kai next to her and looked like she was glowing. "Of course, Y _our Majesties_."

Cinder rolled her eyes. "Thorne tell you to say that one?"

"No," said Iko, looking defiant. "But he wouldn't be wrong. You have to start accepting your fate, Cinder." She looked at Kai again and sighed. "And now that you're with His Majesty…" She sighed again, almost dreamily.

Kai smiled kindly. "C'mon Iko, let's go to my room."

Iko looked like she would pass out. Cinder gave her a look. "I'm coming too, you know."

As they walked, Iko slid her arm through Cinder's as if they were two friends just promenading together in the heart of the New Beijing Market. It made her heart ache for simpler times—when her biggest worries were how to cover up her cyborg parts and escape from Adri. When they reached Kai's room, he gestured for Iko and Cinder to sit on the bed. They sat. Kai pulled himself into what looked like an official stance. It was kind of funny, honestly, because he looked like he'd just gotten out of bed, since he was wearing the random military outfit and had rumpled, crazy hair flitting in every direction on his face.

"Iko," he started, putting on his leader voice. "You've obviously been vital to this whole operation. Besides being a friend to Cinder when no one else would," he grimaced, as if this statement caused him pain, "you've clearly been invaluable to helping Cinder's overall plans since she escaped my prison. She has told me about your help as the control system of the Rampion, in attacking the thaumaturge in Paris to help escape the hybrid pack, in infiltrating the wait staff on the night of my kidnapping." He paused, and looked slightly sheepish. "Of course, you also helped a lot in _actually_ kidnapping me."

Iko beamed. Cinder knew she wasn't used to getting praise, since that was something reserved for human relationships, and she silently thanked Kai again for taking the lead in this conversation. Then she braced herself for what she knew was coming next.

Kai took a step closer and clasped his hands together. "Iko, I am asking you now, as the Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth, to complete one more mission for the sake of your country. For the sake of helping Cinder."

Iko's eyes widened, and she sat up straighter. "Which mission, Your Majesty?"

Cinder turned to look at her. "Iko, we need a way to make sure that a message can get delivered to Earth, in case…" She trailed off.

"In case something were to happen to us," said Kai with strong conviction in his voice. "Earth needs to know what happened. What's _happening_. And we can't send a message now, or I already would have. Cress says it's just too risky."

"But then wouldn't me sending a message be risky too?" asked Iko.

Cinder took a deep breath. "You'll send it later, if you don't hear from us after a certain number of days, or if you get word that…we died."

"Or are captured and being held hostage, or other dire situations like that," Kai clarified, still brisk and all-business. Cinder envied his ability to hide his emotions. Then she realized that Kai didn't have any attachment to Iko, so she was probably the only one who was emotional, anyway.

A look of realization finally dawned on Iko's beautiful droid face. "You mean…you want me to stay behind?" She turned frantically to Cinder. "Cinderrrrrrr!" she whined. " _Please_ , you can't leave me."

"The world needs you, Iko," said Kai. "You can't let us down."

"Iko," said Cinder, trying to detach herself from the situation, "Luna hates androids anyway. You know how they feel about them—you. If you were caught, it would just take a flick of a button to dismantle you, and you'd be lost to us forever. Plus, this is actually _really_ important. We do need to communicate with Earth. We need your help."

"But you can't _die,_ Cinder."

"Nobody's dying." Thorne had appeared in the doorway with Cress and Wolf behind him. "It's just a precaution. Besides, who's going to take care of the Rampion to make sure it gets back in my hands when we're all done saving the world? You're not gonna let down your best friend, your Emperor, and your Captain, are you gorgeous?" He winked at her. For once since she'd known him, Cinder was incredibly grateful for Thorne's flirtatious personality.

Iko blushed, but she still looked doubtful. "What message am I supposed to send?"

"We're going to record it now, if that's okay. It'll all be very clear," said Kai. "You have a video feed in your processor, right?"

"Yes," said Iko, turning on a blue light that was barely visible in her eye.

"Alright," he said, turning to Cinder. "Let's get this over with."

Cinder and Kai stood together in front of Iko's sensor and each recorded a message. They had planned out earlier what to say, knowing that being concise would be important. Cinder was not good at speeches the way Kai was, so he had helped her hone her speech into one that sounded more official and convincing. "It's all about the way you arrange the words and the language you choose," he'd explained.

Kai spoke first. He explained where he'd been, what had happened, and where he was now. He urged the people of Earth and its leaders to listen to Cinder's message. He detailed the ramifications of Levana's rule—one that, he added, was likely already visible by the attacks on Earth.

Cinder tried to remember all her lines, and she thought she did an okay job, though she really wished that Kai could just be the mouthpiece for this revolution. It was one of the reasons they needed him. He was eloquent, and had extremely important connections and resources. She told the people of Earth who she was, how she had come to be this way and learned of her true identity, and her understanding of what had happened to her because of Logan Tanner and Michelle Benoit's rescue attempt. She urged them to search for the blueprints of the device that was implanted in her nervous system. Then she turned back to Kai and let him explain where they were going next. After a few minutes, he turned towards Cress.

"I have one more person I'd like you to hear from." He beckoned for Cress to come to him. Thorne gave her a nudge. She had been particularly nervous about this, as she hated being in the spotlight even more than Cinder did. Cress hesitantly recounted what was going on with the letumosis biological warfare, her job as a prisoner in the satellite under Sybil Mira, and why she had turned against her. The entire feed would likely be about ten minutes long.

"One more thing," said Kai, after Iko shut off her light. "I've heard from Cinder about your desires to go to a certain escort droid outlet in Los Angeles. I'm not sure if we can make that specific request happen—it'll depend on President Vargas of course—but I can guarantee that when this is all over, you'll get a shopping spree that you can't even dream up yourself." Cinder cleared her throat. "Not to mention," Kai quickly added, "you can go to as _many_ balls as you want."

Iko looked like she would pass out again, clearly overwhelmed by this information. But Kai simply kneeled with one leg, took her hand, and lowered his lips to it. "Your country thanks you, Iko."


	16. Chapter 16

Wolf stepped into the room once Iko stopped swooning. Cress blinked away her surprise. She'd forgotten that Wolf was by the door, since his presence usually took up so much space. He'd chosen to stay out of the recording, along with Thorne, for good reason.

"We have about an hour until we need to leave," he said. "Cinder and Thorne, you should probably spend a good chunk of that time reviewing cockpit controls with Iko and Darla. As you know, I was never trained in flying so I can't be of further help there."

Cress couldn't be of any help in that department either. Luckily her hacking skills were required for this mission, or she would have felt completely useless. She'd been jamming signals on Luna for the last two hours. It had been exhausting, but she knew it was only the beginning of everything. They'd need more from her shortly.

"I've also been trying to think of a back-up plan, in case getting to Scarlet and Winter doesn't work." He winced at the thought.

"This is going to work, Wolf," said Cinder. "It _has_ to, or we're…"

"Dead?" offered Thorne.

Iko almost began to wail. "You promised no one would die!"

"In that highly unlikely and almost _definitely_ improbable situation," Thorne quickly amended, plastering on one of his trademark smiles. "No change to the plan, Iko, Wolf is just being paranoid."

Cinder and Kai exchanged glances, and Cress recognized it immediately as deep worry. They quickly put on reassuring smiles for Iko too. Leave it to an android to keep everyone's panic in check.

"Regardless," continued Wolf, as if Iko had never interrupted them. "I honestly can't think of a back-up plan, but I've thought of a place where we could go for help. It could act as a safe house, possibly."

"Possibly?" asked Kai.

"I think we would find help there if we needed it. But I'm not completely sure. It should be an emergency back-up plan only. If we don't have any other options."

"Where is it?"

Wolf gave them an address and asked Cress to pull it up on the netscreen map before they departed. She tried to commit the address to memory.

"Who lives there?" asked Thorne.

"Old friends," he said solemnly. "Pre-LSOP times.

"Okay," said Cinder, "it can't hurt to at least know it's an option. We'll need all the help we can get, I'm sure."

"One more thing," said Wolf. "In case I don't make it—"

"Stop it, Wolf," said Cress, already feeling on the verge of tears. She couldn't believe she was just as distraught as Iko.

He barely noticed her. "It'll be really important to tell them that you are friends with Ze'ev."

"Who's Ze'ev?" asked Kai.

"Someone who died a long time ago."

The others looked around nervously, as if Wolf had slightly lost his mind. He just crossed his arms and glared at them.

"Right," said Thorne, "as Cinder said, good to know. Can we get out of this cramped space now?"

Only Thorne could make her almost giggle at a time like this. "How do you know it's cramped?"

"Cress, just because I can't see doesn't mean I don't know the layout of my ship, let alone what room we're in. Besides, I can smell bad breath all around me. Can you guys make sure you pack a toothbrush before we go?"

With that, he reached down to grab Cress by the arm and shot his cane up swiftly to find the door. Everyone jumped when he barely missed whacking Wolf in the face.

"I need a few minutes with Cress, if you'll all just excuse us," he said to the others as they made their way to the door. He was practically dragging her. She glanced helplessly over her shoulder at the others and couldn't help noticing that they looked as if they were sharing a private joke. Was she missing something?

Thorne brought her to his room quickly and practically pushed her towards the bed. She was almost alarmed by his force. Then he shut the door behind him and used the cane to lead him back to his bed too.

"Ow," said Cress, rubbing her arm when he sat down. "You didn't have to pull on my arm so hard."

His vacant eyes filled with concern. "Did I hurt you?"

"A little."

"I'm sorry, Cress." He reached out for her and clumsily moved from her shoulder down to her arm.

"It's the other arm," she mumbled.

He withdrew his hand almost immediately. "Oh, of course. Sorry if I hurt you—wasn't my intention."

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I just really needed to be alone with you before we left. I didn't want the others to get the idea that they could follow us."

"You wanted to be…alone with me?" The words came out sticky.

"Yes. We have to talk, Cress."

Thorne wanted to talk? Her emotions had just barely begun to stabilize from yesterday's interactions with him. She didn't know if she could handle this right now. If she coupled her anxiety about landing on the moon with another moody Thorne encounter right now, she was sure she might explode.

"About us," he clarified.

Her heart pattered. He wanted to talk. About _them_. His gaze was so intent, despite being blank, that it was impossible for her to look away or protest. She flashed back to their conversation after Kai's kidnapping. She'd been so hopeful to hear a confession from him. It hadn't come. Was this the moment for it instead? Did he think he had to share his feelings before they got in another life-threatening situation? She was so afraid to build up hope again.

"Cress?" he asked, suddenly sounding unsure of himself. She hadn't realized that she'd just been staring at him instead of contributing to the conversation. Not that she had anything to say. Her tongue was frozen to the roof of her mouth.

She forced it to thaw. "Yes, Captain?"

He relaxed. "Hey."

"What about us?" she asked. Now her mouth felt like sandpaper.

He took her hand in his. She tensed. "I'm going to miss holding your hand, you know," he murmured. "Once I get my sight back, I'll be able to find my own way. I've just gotten so used to it."

She knew it was true. But she wanted him to tell her that he would still hold her hand anyway, even if he could see. Because he _wanted_ to hold her hand, not because he needed to. Thorne slid his fingers in between hers and clutched her tightly. Her bundle of emotions was returning as fast as a cascading waterfall. Cress didn't want him to let go, though.

"Are we okay? You and me?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I treated you badly yesterday. I feel guilty about it. And I don't feel guilty often."

"We already talked about that, I thought. It's okay."

Thorne pulled her hand closer to him and covered their intertwined fingers with his other hand. His arm was so much longer than hers that the motion nearly pulled her into his lap. "You've always had so much patience with me. I don't deserve it."

"No," she said, "that's not true. You have more patience than most people I've met."

He chuckled. "You haven't really met that many people, Cress."

"So you keep reminding me."

"Sorry. Just remember I'm not a prime example of anything."

"I know."

She sighed and looked at the way he was still holding her hand in his. Then, without any notice, he scooped her into his arms. This time the movement was so abrupt that it did in fact pull her into his lap. But her knees came up with just a little too much force and he lost his balance at the sudden impact. They toppled back onto the bed, Cress falling on top of him as his arms held her in the would-be embrace. Thorne grunted at the unexpected weight, but then fell silent.

For a moment they both just breathed together. She could feel his heartbeat against hers, and she was sure that he could feel the way her own heart was about to leap out of her chest. Cress wanted to memorize every detail of him. The way his chest felt beneath her. The way the smell of his favorite soap lingered on him as if he had just taken a shower. The look of his collarbone peeking out from under his shirt. The way her lips could meet his, if she could only move up a few inches. The—

"This is how we first met," he breathed.

"What?" she asked, startled out of her thoughts.

"Well, officially." His voice was thick now, and she lifted her head to look at his face. "When I woke up. After the satellite crashed. You were on top of me and your hair was wrapped all around us, practically binding our bodies together."

She laughed, but it came out shaky. "You hated my hair."

"I did," he agreed, pulling a hand off her back and running it through her short strands. "I can't wait to see how good of a barber I am."

This time she managed a more normal sounding laugh. He _had_ to know how much his hand through her hair was flustering her, didn't he? As if her lying on top of him wasn't enough already. "It's…different now. Iko fixed it for me."

"Ah, of course." He returned his hand to the small of her back. "I bet it looks great."

"I'm still getting used to it," she admitted. "When I get nervous I always try to pull my long hair but I still forget sometimes that it's not there anymore to do that. Bad habits are hard to break."

A faint grin played on his lips. He teasingly tugged a strand of her hair. "Impossible, I've heard."

Cress knew that the sound of her heartbeat had to be deafening him as well.

"Cress?" he breathed again. "This is what I wanted to talk to you about."

Cress was sure she would explode from joy. A tear threatened to leak out and she willed herself to stay calm. It was really happening. Carswell Thorne was here with her, holding her for real, and she…

She reached out to brush her fingers through his hair too. His perfect, beautiful, wispy hair.

Thorne flinched. His eyes suddenly widened, looking as though he had just woken up and realized where he was. He rolled to the left and let go of her, propping himself up on his elbow instead. Cress deflated a bit, but rolled onto her side as well so she was facing him on the bed.

"Let me just—collect my thoughts for a minute so this comes out right. I've been saying everything wrong lately," he said.

"Okay." Cress waited as patiently as she could, but she was still dying of anticipation. She fantasized over the last few minutes with Thorne, but then realized that she should concentrate on slowing down her breathing instead.

"I—no, _we_ —" Thorne began, then paused.

"Yes?" she prompted. She took his hand in hers again to assure him that she felt the same. It wasn't like him to be nervous.

"A lot has happened since we first met." He circled his hand in the air as if to illustrate all the madness. "Things have changed."

"I know," she whispered, scooting closer.

"It's just that, well, I just wanted to… _say_ …" he trailed off. Then he rolled onto his back and ran a hand over his face. She thought he looked annoyed, but the look vanished almost instantly. He turned back to her. Shook his head.

"I just wanted to check and see if you were still afraid of the moon."

He wanted to… "What?"

"We've been through a lot since we first met and maybe your feelings have changed about it. But it can be hard to face your fears, and I wanted to make sure you're not walking into this with too many expectations. You might have more nightmares. You're going right back to where everything bad happened to you. Where you were abandoned."

Cress heard her heart hit the floor and shatter into a million pieces. How could she be so stupid? He still didn't love her at all. He just…cared about her like an older brother? Wanted to make sure she didn't cry the second they landed? Thorne was still just trying to be nice to her.

"I'm not afraid anymore," she said coolly. It was only a partial lie. She didn't worry about the moon so much anymore as she did losing the people she'd come to love. Cress sat up abruptly and climbed over Thorne to get to the end of the bed.

"Where are you going?" he asked, looking surprised. "Shouldn't we talk about this a little more?"

"I just have to go get something."

Cress hurried out and walked to her room. When she got inside, she steadied herself against the wall as a sob choked out of her. She hated herself for being weak, being afraid, being emotional. Who had she been kidding? He did not love her. _Would not_ love her. But she wouldn't give him the satisfaction this time of turning into a pile of misery in front of him as she had in the desert. He was right—so much had changed since then. So much had changed just in the last ten minutes.

She wiped her sleeve over her nose and grabbed what she needed before speeding back to Thorne's room. He was sitting up now. She thrust his drops in his hand.

"What's this?" he asked.

"They're your drops. I think you should hold on to them from now on."

"Oh," he said. Thorne stuffed the little bottle in his pocket. "Any reason?"

"We're at a crucial point now. Whatever happens, you should at least be able to have those in your possession. No sense in continuing to be blind if something happens to the rest of us."

Thorne laughed a little. "You're sounding a bit like Iko. We're going to be fine, Cress." She noted that his usual confident tone was back.

"Speaking of, I need to get back to the cockpit. I have some final coding to work on before we leave. There's probably not that much time left. You should go over the controls with Cinder, like Wolf suggested."

"Cress?"

"Yes?"

"You sure we're okay?"

She lied through her teeth, once again glad he couldn't see her. "Yes, fine, why?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I just wanted to make sure. I'll see you out there."

* * *

Cinder completed a final inspection of her room. As much as she hated to admit it, she was going to miss the Rampion. In reality, it had been her home for the last month. It would be strange to fall asleep somewhere else. Where would her next home be, anyway? She couldn't begin to imagine what Thorne must be going through. Then she remembered that he'd stolen the Rampion and spent the last year in jail due to his other crimes, so she stopped feeling sorry for him.

She picked up her pack and decided to double check the podship before everyone gathered there. It was hard to think with everyone else's opinions clouding her thoughts. When she got inside, someone grabbed her hand from behind the door and pushed her gently towards the wall.

Kai.

Cinder closed her eyes as he kissed her hungrily, not even saying hello. Her heart began to ache. She kissed him back and tried to shut out every other thought except the two of them together. He broke off and kissed her intermittently while speaking.

"I—" Kiss.

"—have been waiting—" Kiss.

"—all night—" Kiss.

"—to get you— " Kiss.

"—alone." Kai began to trail kisses down her neck, and Cinder wrapped her arms around him.

"I know," she said breathlessly. "It's just been so busy, preparing everything."

He finally pulled away from her but she didn't loosen her embrace. She leaned her forehead to his. "I wish we had more time."

"Me too."

"I wish we could just forget about Levana."

He exhaled slowly. "That's what I'm going to do every time I see her. Forget about her. I'll only be thinking of you."

"In that case, you'll probably want to murder me as well," she joked.

"I believe there's been enough of people trying to get you killed, myself included."

"True."

"Don't forget about what we talked about," he said earnestly.

"We didn't come to any real resolution, Kai."

"Hey." He pulled his forehead away to look her squarely in the eye. "We'll come to a resolution once we're done with all this."

"Maybe," she said doubtfully, worry beginning to creep into her thoughts again.

"You may be a new princess, but I'm a practiced politician. I'll be able to convince you." He flashed her a devious grin before kissing her again. "I'm sure I can find other ways to be persuasive as well."

Cinder managed to push herself off of the wall and began to walk toward the podship. " _Somebody's_ certainly gained a bit of confidence since he's been aboard the Rampion."

Kai followed her over to where she was already beginning to inspect it. "Maybe, maybe not. It's just that the more time I spend with you, the more I know that I want _more_ time to spend with you."

"Well in that case, let's focus on getting us more time."


	17. Chapter 17

Everyone was tense as they huddled in the podship. It wasn't meant for so many, so it was a good thing that they were all friends by now. Thorne was sharing the co-pilot seat with Cress so he could help Cinder concentrate on taking off, and Wolf and Kai sat uncomfortably crammed together in the back.

Cinder tried not think about her goodbye with Iko as Thorne gave her instructions. Her head already throbbed too much. She had to focus on the task at hand.

As they shot out into space, she watched the doors of the Rampion close behind them permanently. Initially, they tried to make small talk. Go over plans again. Thorne even tried to make jokes to lighten the mood. But the closer they got to Luna, the less conversation there was. When the shiny domes of the Lunar cities finally appeared, everyone completely stopped talking. She'd seen the domes before in pictures, of course, and they'd researched as much as they could about them. But looking at them glistening under the stars was almost enough to take her breath away. This was where she was born. This was where she was from.

"Can you remind me how you know that they won't see us approaching?" Kai asked from the back.

Cress turned around. "Don't worry, this is my specialty. Remember how you told me about all those Lunar ships that suddenly appeared on your radar? That happened because my satellite crashed and my programming was interrupted. If I can keep thousands of Lunar ships cloaked from your radar for years, I can definitely keep one podship hidden."

"Oh," was all Kai could respond. Cinder grinned to herself despite her struggle to control the podship. At least it was easier than their flight from the New Beijing Palace in the Rampion. That had nearly ended in disaster.

"As long as Iko keeps the Rampion in the orbit I specified for her, we'll be fine."

A few minutes later, Cress pulled up the schematics of the entry ports that she'd saved for Cinder. She pointed at their position. "Look, we're almost there."

Thorne pulled Cress closer to him, almost protectively. They whispered to each other, but Cinder could still make out some of their conversation through her audio interface. She knew she was eavesdropping, but she was having a hard time denying that she was slightly invested in whatever happened between Thorne and Cress.

Cress shrieked at the same time Cinder did when something flew past them. The podship dipped to the right as Cinder tried to overcome her shock and almost caused all of them to topple out of their seats.

"What?" asked Thorne. He was gripping Cress almost as tightly as Cinder was gripping the controllers. "What is it?"

"Debris, I think," said Cinder, steadying out the podship to the best of her ability.

"Can you warn us next time?" he asked irritably.

Another patch of debris came flying at them. Cinder plunged the podship down to avoid it. Her stomach flipped and the oatmeal she'd eaten earlier threatened to come back up again. Thorne nearly fell out his chair.

"There's more of it!" she yelled, and pulled the controllers up again.

"I refuse to die in another crash! Cress and I already survived one!" Thorne yelled back, but Cinder could barely hear him. She was having trouble breathing slowly enough to turn off the warning signs that flashed across her vision.

INCREASED ADRENALINE.

ELEVATED INTRACRANIAL PRESSURE.

DISTURBED VESTIBULAR FUNCTION.

She tried to calm down as she narrowly missed another piece of debris. "They weren't kidding when they said this area was hit by space debris," she said through gritted teeth.

"Come on, Cinder," said Kai. "You can do this." She dared to glance back at him for a brief second, and saw that his face was ashen.

"We're so close," said Cress unsteadily. "Just—just a few more minutes."

It felt like the longest few minutes of Cinder's life. When they finally hovered above the port entry, Cinder thought her hands might fall off from gripping the controllers so tightly. Cress helped Cinder find the best spot in which to enter the port, which was covered in "UNDER CONSTRUCTION: DO NOT ENTER" tape. They would have to break through it. Thorne was fairly bossy as he reminded her how to release the landing gear, but she was grateful for his instruction.

Once the podship had rumbled to a stop inside, Cinder's entire body was shaking so much that she thought her cyborg brain would shut itself off. Luckily, the warning signs began to diminish the second the control panel informed them that the air outside was safe for their exit.

They'd made it. They were on Luna.

Wolf was the first to get out of his seat. He clapped Cinder on the shoulder. "Welcome home, princess."

She was still too anxiety-ridden to argue the title. There was no point anymore, anyway. He was right. She'd have to accept who she was before she could convince anyone else. The rest of them got up as well and crammed in the space together.

Kai reached for her hand and nodded proudly at her. "Great job."

"There still could be Lunars that saw our ship with their eyes," said Wolf. "Or even people who decided to come to work early. Cinder, be ready to use your glamour. Everyone else, be on high alert."

Despite her wobbly legs, Cinder managed to call up a glamour of construction workers and held the vision at the ready, just in case. She doubted herself, because what did she know about how construction workers looked on Luna? She hoped it would be an okay disguise nonetheless. But when they stepped outside, it was completely deserted. The tunnel was so silent, in fact, that it made the hairs on Cinder's neck stand up.

"What are we going to do with the ship?" asked Kai suddenly. Cinder's heart sank. They hadn't thought of that.

Wolf shrugged. "We're going to leave it here."

"They'll notice it," Thorne remarked.

"I know," he said simply. "Our presence will be noticed sooner or later anyway. There's no way for us to hide a podship. We'll just have to hope that we're far enough into the tunnel or even to the sectors by the time they discover it."

Cinder felt miserable. How could she have overlooked that? But Wolf was right. There was nothing they could do but continue on. They walked slowly, cautiously. Cinder went first with Wolf at her side. Kai, Cress, and Thorne followed, with Thorne holding his cane at the ready. He didn't place it on the ground though, lest it bang into something. Cress guided him with her hand on his back. She was surprised that they weren't holding hands.

Cinder had a general idea of the blueprint of this tunnel, considering that it should be built to mirror the others that they had studied. Normally, these tunnels were equipped with hover shuttles to take passengers back into the city. After what seemed like hours of walking—it had really only been about fifteen minutes—she wished that she could somehow conjure up a hover to take them to where they needed to go. A few minutes later, they reached a small clearing that was connected to a fork in the tunnel. Cress stumbled ahead of her. "I don't remember seeing anything like this in any of the tunnels we looked at," she said.

Cinder pulled up the blueprints she had downloaded and scrolled through several of them. "I don't see anything either. But according to the general outlay of this sector, we shouldn't be more than a few miles from the outlet. I think we have to go that way, though. It makes more logical sense based on my compass." She pointed at the tunnel entrance to the right.

Wolf came to join her and Cress. "Something doesn't seem right. It seems darker than the other way, doesn't it?"

Cinder squinted past the flashlight on her hand. She knew Wolf's eyes were better than anything Dr. Erland could give her, though. "Let's go take a better look."

"Kai, grab Thorne!" Cinder called over her shoulder.

They made their way about twenty feet into the tunnel, and then stopped when a pile of huge rocks nearly blocked their way.

"It's okay," she said to Wolf. "It looks like there was just some falling rock. We should be able to fit through."

Wolf peered into the space. "Cress can definitely get in there, and maybe you too, Cinder. But I'll have to move some of the rocks to fit the rest of us. Give me a few minutes."

"Can Thorne and I help?" asked Kai.

"No, Your Majesty. Please stay back," Wolf instructed.

Cinder and Cress stepped back to join Thorne and Kai as Wolf approached the pile of rocks. He surveyed all the pieces several times before getting close enough to touch them. Using his hands, he gingerly pushed one of the bigger rocks a few feet and stopped. Waited. Looked up. Exhaled. Then he turned back to the rock and lifted it with all his might. Cinder almost gasped as she watched him. The rock was probably the size of his entire torso. Wolf shuddered for a minute under its weight and then let the rock fall onto the tunnel floor. It landed with a boom that reverberated throughout the clearing.

"Okay," said Wolf, "let's go."

He held his hand out to Cress, who took it as he helped her climb up to the opening, which was now big enough to fit Wolf without too much bending. Cress slipped on her way up, and let out a cry as Wolf caught her in his arms from tumbling down the other side. Their weight crunched against the pile of rocks, and a sickening echo ripped through the tunnel. He set her down quickly. "Let's try that again."

Cinder had already come over to reassure Cress, who looked positively terrified. "Good thing we know that spot is slippery," she said. She went to offer her hand too when she heard it. A deep rumbling noise.

She squinted again. Was a hover coming? It rumbled again, and this time it echoed throughout the tunnel. Then the ground beneath her began to quiver.

"Get down!" Wolf bellowed. Cinder threw herself to the ground as quickly as possible.

"Falling rock!" yelled Kai. "Look out!"

She watched in horror as he pushed Thorne out of the way while earth and pieces of rock began to fall from the ceiling, barely missing the both of them. A cloud of dust and dirt billowed around them in the aftermath. The tunnel began to shake as though the walls would cave in on them completely. It was getting harder to see and even more difficult to breathe. Why had she believed this would be safe? Why had she insisted they take this tunnel, despite Wolf's doubts?

More rock fell, disorientating her and clouding her vision. Cinder couldn't make out where everyone was anymore. She could only hear grunts and shuffling and the occasional command from Wolf, but it was mostly lost under the sounds of the tunnel all around her. She coughed and tried to crawl along the ground while covering her head.

They had to get to the clearing. They had to get to safety. But something else was falling. The ground kept shifting below her. She couldn't see. She couldn't breathe.

She heard a cry of pain. Panic clawed at her. _No!_ Who was hurt? Where were they?

Something loud landed inches from her face and she recoiled instinctively. A body slammed into her and pinned her down.

And the world dissolved into a thick black cloud of dirt, ash, and chaos.


	18. Chapter 18

If there were _ever_ a time when Thorne had hated being blind, it was now. Even more so than when Cress was kidnapped. At least then he had somewhat of a coherent idea of what had happened and how to proceed. No, this was definitely worse. Once Kai shoved him out of the way, Thorne crawled helplessly into what he hoped was an area away from the commotion. He pulled his shirt over his face so he could breathe better, and then he retreated into a protective position on the ground with his backpack over his head to try to avoid getting hit.

By apparent falling rocks, according to Kai.

Why were the rocks falling? What was all the chaos that surrounded him now? It sounded and felt as though they were in the middle of an earthquake. Thorne cursed when he heard someone yell in pain. Who was it? What had happened? He _hated_ being helpless. He needed to help the others. He had to make sure they were okay. But all he could do was lie there pathetically and hope he didn't get bludgeoned to death by Lunar rocks.

 _Lunars_. If he could beat the stars out of some Lunars right now, he'd jump at the opportunity. Though he wasn't typically a violent man, that would certainly make him feel better right now. Get out some of his frustration from the last week aboard the Rampion. Take down some of the crew's enemies while at it. Possibly Levana? She probably wasn't any good at combat without her stupid glamour.

His anger boiled. He tried to calm down as much as he could so his tortured breathing wouldn't attract more dust than necessary. Where was everyone? Thorne tried calling out for them, but anything he said was buried under the loud crumbling, collapsing, and slamming that thundered around him. He covered his ears again and waited.

And waited.

Thorne decided to count his breaths to keep them from escalating again. He made it to 303 exhales when the rumbling below his body began to subside. It got quieter, and he strained his ears under his shirt to listen. There wasn't much to hear.

It became eerily quiet.

"Hello?" he called. It came out muffled, but he was afraid to let go of his shirt in case there was still dust billowing around. Better let it settle. Thorne almost made it to two more minutes of waiting impatiently, and then he just couldn't take it anymore. He sprang to his feet and almost toppled over from a loss of equilibrium, which reminded him that he was still not invincible.

"Cress? Cress, where are you?" When Cress didn't respond, he tried calling for Cinder. She didn't respond either.

"Wolf!? Kai!?" Desperation tried to force its way up and out of him. He thrust his cane in front of him and hoped that he'd stumble into someone who was still just hiding on the ground. He stumbled forward until he almost smacked into a wall of rocks. Had this been here before? Wolf had tried to move a pile of big rocks for them, right? Hadn't there been a hole somewhere? He tried to find it. When his hands only met more rocks and then the other wall of the tunnel, he groaned in frustration.

The desperation was almost too much to keep down. He turned in the other direction, away from the pile of rocks, and realized he was able to keep walking without being blocked. Was this the way that they had come? He'd become too disoriented in all the chaos to know for sure.

"CRESS!"

He was yelling now. Surely Levana could hear him all the way in Artemisia.

"CRESS!"

WHERE WAS CRESS? The desperation spilled out of him, and full-blown panic clawed at his organs, so much so that he could barely keep from falling to his knees in miserable defeat. He was alone. He'd lost them all.

 _No_. Not like this. He had to focus. Had to find her. Had to find _all_ of them.

"CINDER!" he bellowed, and continued moving forward. "DON'T YOU DARE MAKE ME OPEN UP YOUR CONTROL PANEL AGAIN! YOU KNOW THAT NEITHER OF US WILL LIKE THAT! SO YOU BETTER BE ALIVE AND YOU BETTER ANSWER ME _RIGHT_ — _NOW_!"

He heard a cough that almost sounded like a weak laugh, and he very nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Thorne…" The voice was quiet, barely audible.

"WHO'S THERE? WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Thought you were always the cool and collected one," the voice weakly. It was Kai.

"Kai!" Thorne was so relieved to hear anything but his own voice. "Where are you?"

"Behind you, to the left." Kai's voice was laced with forced coolness. But not the kind of coolness that Thorne had grown accustomed to hearing from him whenever he addressed Thorne. He sounded strange, disconnected. As Thorne got closer to him, he heard Kai take long, labored breaths. He was hurt.

"Kai, are you okay?"

"I got hit, Thorne," he said quietly.

"By what? A rock?"

"Sure felt like it," he mumbled. "I'm bleeding."

Thorne tensed. "How bad are you bleeding?"

"I'm not sure, I'm…afraid to touch it. There's blood running down my face. I feel light-headed. Can't stand up." Kai exhaled, as if telling Thorne this information had been as strenuous as a day of manual labor.

Thorne almost panicked for a millisecond, then tried to think rationally. Calmly. Like he usually did. "Okay, okay, don't worry, it's fine. A little blood never killed anyone. Are you skilled in first aid?"

Silence.

"Right," Thorne answered his own question. "You probably had a personal nurse."

Kai grunted. "You think I'm useless, don't you?"

Thorne ripped a piece of his undershirt. "Cinder has the med kit. But here, the inside of this is mostly clean. Push it against the bleeding part as tightly as you can and hold it there. I can't see you, so you're going to have to keep telling me how you're doing."

"Okay," said Kai, and took the cloth. "I can feel the blood soaking it," he said after a few minutes.

Thorne ripped more of the shirt. "Here, keep pressing."

They sat for another minute or so as Kai continued breathing heavily, before Thorne couldn't wait any longer. Besides, Kai needed to stay awake.

"Kai, you have to tell me what happened. _Where are the others_?"

Kai inhaled. "It was hard to see…what was going on. I think the debris might have made this part of the tunnel unstable, or moving the rock caused something else to shift, I'm not sure. But that part of the tunnel started crumbling after Wolf moved the rock and…"

"And what?" Thorne demanded, trying to urge Kai to hurry up his explanation.

"The wall of rocks where we were before. It collapsed." Kai sighed heavily. "There's no hole in it anymore."

"And the girls? Wolf?"

"They're on the other side…of the rocks, I think." Thorne heard Kai shift and wince. "I hope. I don't know."

Thorne felt himself pale. "No. It can't be. There has to be a way through."

"It's completely blocked, Thorne. You can't…you can't see what it looks like. What was a wall now looks like a mini mountain."

"No," said Thorne. "We can dig. We can—we can—"

But what could they do? A blind man. An injured man. No tools. Not enough strength to move a huge pile of rocks, and even if they were, how could they risk hurting themselves—or worse, the others—even more by starting another landslide? They had no idea what condition they were in to begin with. They were both just…helpless. Useless.

Thorne cursed again. A thousand times over. He moved away from Kai just an inch and struck the tunnel wall with his cane. Then he punched the rocks with his bare hands until he could feel his knuckles bleeding.

_Not now._

Not with the way he'd left things.

Cress—didn't—she—NO!

He'd only just gotten her back. He'd only just gotten Cinder back, too. And now…no goodbye. No _nothing_.

If Cress was still alive, she probably detested him by now anyway. He hated his pride, he hated his feelings, and for the first time, he hated himself.

"CRESS!" he yelled again. "CRESS! I have to tell you something!"

But it was lost in the void. He heard only echoes.

"It's no use," said Kai quietly, and Thorne started. He'd forgotten he wasn't alone. "They can't hear us and we can't hear them."

Kai drooped against Thorne's leg suddenly, and Thorne felt the wetness from where he was probably still bleeding from the impact of the rocks.

"No!" yelled Thorne, jumping to the ground and propping Kai back up again. "You are not allowed to fall asleep."

Kai moaned, but Thorne only shook his head in exasperation. "Pull yourself together. You could have a concussion. I think—I mean, _I know_ you're just bleeding and it hurts, but still. I'm going to have a _very_ angry princess on my hands if anything happens to you under my watch."

"So," said Thorne emphatically, trying to distract himself as much as Kai, "we're not going to add that to my rap sheet. And I need your eyes. Got it?"

Kai just breathed again.

"So come on, talk to me, Kai," Thorne insisted.

"I don't really want to talk to you," Kai finally said. "I want...Cinder."

"Listen, Your Majesty, the idea of being trapped in some sort of tunnel—not to mention possibly stuck on Luna indefinitely—with you is not my piece of cake either. I'd rather be with—" he hesitated, "well, other people too. We're just going to have to—"

"I lost her. I lost her again."

" _Kai_. Cinder is not—"

"I'm already the worst Emperor ever," Kai continued, sounding a hundred years old. "Now I'm the worst boyfriend ever too."

Thorne rolled his eyes. "Let's not get dramatic." Once again, he knew he was convincing himself as much as Kai, but he couldn't—wouldn't—let that show. "They're with Wolf. He's a special operative with mad muscles. He can get out of pretty much any situation."

"Good, someone else can help her again," Kai said feebly. "I just ruin everything. I told her that I would, but she didn't believe me. Cinder...oh stars what have I done?"

"Uh, Kai? Could we tone down the self-deprecation a bit? You're starting to sound like you're drunk."

"You're the hero," said Kai.

Thorne almost laughed. "Me? Right. Don't even get me started on _that_ conversation again. C'mon. Wolf wouldn't let anything happen to them. In fact, they're probably on the other side, trying to figure out how to get to us. Cinder has all those tools in her hand, remember?"

"She's a cyborg."

"Yes, exactly."

"So smart."

"Indeed."

"And she's... _so pretty_."

"Uh, yeah, she's a total babe," Thorne said dryly, already reaching for his backpack.

Kai sighed contentedly, which made Thorne squirm uncomfortably. Aces. This better not turn into some twisted version of his experience with Cress having fever in the desert. Cinder was kind of like his sister at this point, and things could real awkward real quick. Maybe in the future there would be a place for this conversation, but it would probably require a bit more...alcohol? Or something.

"Kai," he said, eager to change the subject, "Cinder may have the med kit, but we do have some food at least." He handed the backpack to Kai. "Try to find one of the bars that's wrapped in the foil. Keep pressure on your wound, though."

Thorne heard shuffling and crinkling. Then, "what is it?"

"It's a protein bar," he explained. "The American military uses them for pretty much everything, so the Rampion was chock full of them. They basically never expire."

"Why didn't I have any of these in my backpack?"

Thorne shrugged. "Because maybe no one thought you would like them? I don't know. They're not that great, honestly. Still, you need energy, especially after getting hit. Eat at least two. Grab one of the water bottles in there as well."

They both ate and drank in silence for awhile. Thorne tried to keep the calm front he was putting on for Kai and focused on trying to think of what to do next. Maybe they still should try to get to the others, somehow. Maybe they should just sit tight. Maybe they should try to get out of the tunnel. Maybe there was a solution that he just wasn't able to think of in this aftermath of the chaos.

Whatever they did, the top priority now was keeping Kai awake. And then, no matter how weak he was, they had to move. Because the workers would likely be arriving soon, and when they did, the two of them could not be in the tunnel anymore.


	19. Chapter 19

It was nearly impossible to keep going. Thorne was relentless. He didn't let Kai stop to rest, and he certainly didn't let Kai complain. They barely spoke. Thorne urged him on, though it was Kai leading the way with his eyes. He was weak, so he stumbled a lot—and subsequently so did Thorne, who was supporting enough of Kai's bodyweight to keep him moving forward. Every once in a while, Thorne would tell him that he had to keep going, and that the farther they got away from the fallen rocks, the sooner Kai would be able to rest. Sometimes he said "describe" when the construction work presented certain obstacles. With Thorne pushing him on and his head throbbing from the impact of the rock, it was much too difficult for Kai to notice all the details surrounding him. He just knew that with each step they took, they got farther and farther away from Cinder.

"Thorne," he managed to spit out. "I need a break."

"No," said Thorne firmly.

"I have to stop. Just for a bit."

"You can do this," he said, and this time Kai noticed there was a little more compassion in his voice.

"Not without a break." Kai sagged heavier onto Thorne's side. He hoped it would make him uncomfortable enough to slow down.

"This is much worse than going through the desert with Cress," Thorne muttered, but Kai thought maybe he was imagining it. Thorne just pushed him off and tried to get him to move forward again. "Can you make it five more minutes? I've been trying to keep track of how long we've been moving, and if I'm right we've put a good hour's distance between us and the fork in the tunnel. See if you can find something that looks like a nook or a corner where we could possibly hide while we rest."

"Okay," Kai breathed. He could do this, he could keep going.

No, he couldn't. He tripped. Thorne nearly ripped Kai's arm out of its socket as he jerked forward. Kai let out a string of curses; Thorne let go of his arm.

" _For all the stars, Thorne_ , _I can't do this."_

Kai limped to the rock wall, hunched over his legs, and vomited. He vaguely registered Thorne making sounds of disgust, but Kai could have cared less. Now was not the time to worry about etiquette. Not when his legs were wobbling beneath him and his brow was covered in sweat from throwing up. When he finished, he sunk to the floor, feeling utterly defeated. His head felt like it was going to explode.

"Can you tell me where to go so I don't step in your mess?"

Kai managed to glance at Thorne, who was standing in the middle of the tunnel with his arms crossed.

"To the left."

Thorne prodded the ground with his cane until he hit the wall next to Kai. "Get up."

"You—are— _crazy_."

"Determined, actually."

Kai had the urge to reach out and pull the cane out from beneath him. "Just shut up."

"I only want you to get up so we can move away from the vomit. Sorry, but the smell is killing me."

Kai grudgingly forced himself up and steadied his trembling hand on the wall before grabbing Thorne to lead him to a different spot. He certainly missed having Cress around to guide him all the time. The thought of Cress brought on a whole new wave of misery for Kai. He hadn't given her much thought since the rocks had fallen, which made him feel guilty. He cared about her well-being now too, but he'd only been able to think about Cinder up until now.

"I can't believe we left them," Kai said once they were both sitting down again. Thorne had given Kai another one of those protein bars, some water, and made him change the cloth on his forehead. Luckily, it looked like the bleeding had stopped.

"What did you want us to do?"

"I don't know, if digging was impossible, then we could have…taken the podship and flown back to the Rampion? Come back with tools?"

"Fly to the Rampion? A blind man and an emperor who doesn't know the first thing about flying? You can't be serious."

"Did you take your drops?" Kai asked, something about the words "blind man" triggering his thoughts.

Thorne bristled. "How do you know about those?"

"I didn't realize it was a secret. Plus, Cress told me that you take them at certain intervals. Without her portscreen, it could be hard to remember."

Thorne pulled a tiny bottle out of his pocket. "I won't forget, trust me." He fiddled with the bottle, and then reluctantly held it out to Kai. "Can you put them in my eyes?"

Kai stared at him. "Seriously?" The look on Thorne's face made it very clear that Kai shouldn't have said anything. He cleared his throat. "I mean—yeah. Let me just, uh, get a little bit more of my bearings back. I'm still kind of dizzy."

"Thanks," said Thorne gruffly.

"No problem."

"Look, we're not deserting them," said Thorne after a pause. His voice was full of conviction. "Do you think I would have left if there were other options? We would have died if we had stayed there. Cinder would never forgive us if she thought we were sacrificing ourselves for no reason. I told you already, the girls are with Wolf. They'll realize that they can't get to us either, and they'll go."

"Or they're dead," said Kai gloomily, not ready to allow any shred of hope into his mind.

"They're not."

Kai hung his head. "What if I never see Cinder again?"

"Do you really think that you're the only one here who cares about Cinder? Do I need to remind you about the conversation we had on your first night on the Rampion?"

"No."

"Then pay attention, because I'm not going to say this again. You were almost knocked unconscious. I am blind. There's no way the two of us would have stood a chance against possible arriving Lunars because, in case you haven't noticed, besides our physical disabilities, _we can't glamour anyone._ We _couldn't_ get to the others and had _no way_ of communicating with them. I had to make a spur of the moment decision. This is what I chose. I can't sit here and worry about all the consequences, or I'll go mad. So until someone can prove to me that this is the wrong decision, I'd _appreciate it_ if you would stop making me feel like I've just sentenced the three of them to die."

Kai was stunned into silence by Thorne's exasperated outburst. Of course he knew Thorne cared about Cinder. And if Thorne cared as much about Cress as Kai suspected, then he could only imagine how much Thorne was suffering now too. He was just better at masking his emotions under careless jokes and nonchalance, while Kai was completely transparent about his own feelings.

"You're right," Kai said finally.

" _The point is_ , Cress is obviously a genius, Wolf is a soldier and strategist, and Cinder is an incredibly resourceful lunar princess who just happens to have some of the strongest glamour around. It's a dream team, Kai. They'll come to the same conclusions we did. They'll know we can't get to their side of the tunnel, and that the only other way to get out is to take the tunnel we're in now. And then Cress will know that we're headed to the safe house that Wolf talked about."

"How can you be so sure?"

A hesitation. "Cress knows me. It was the backup plan. She'll know what I'm thinking."

"Will she?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Thorne's tone went from determined to slightly on-edge.

"I think you know." Kai figured Thorne would get defensive, and he instantly regretted bringing up the topic. But to his surprise, Thorne just sighed.

"Can we just…not talk about Cress?"

"Fine. I need to lay down a little anyway."

"Fine. But you're not allowed to fall asleep."

* * *

Thorne didn't want Kai to fall asleep. One reason was that Kai needed to stay awake as long as possible in case he had a concussion. The other reason was that Thorne didn't feel like being alone with his thoughts at the moment. He was still haunted by the episode of falling rocks and his helplessness. He had undoubtedly developed a weakness in the form of his crew. This was not a revelation that he was willing to share with anyone just yet, though. And besides, Kai wasn't terrible company—at least when he wasn't busy whining about how horrible their situation was.

"So, enough of the heavy," he said, hoping to lighten the mood. "When are you and Cinder going to tie the knot, then?"

Kai groaned. "You're seriously not going to bring up that stupid inter-planetary dating thing again, are you?"

"No," Thorne laughed. "Just curious. Cinder doesn't tell me anything. But wait, I don't want… _specific_ …details." He made a face, hoping that Kai understood what kind of details he meant. He heard Kai let out a long breath.

"Honestly, I think I've made a big mess of everything. Even if this whole plan works out, Cinder and I will probably never be together."

"Why not?"

"Because who am I kidding? She had doubts about us from the start, and she wasn't wrong to have them. I tried to reassure her that it could work out in the end, but how can it? She's right. We're from two completely different planets."

"And your point is?"

"It just seems impossible."

"Reality check. You're an _emperor_. Not a wolf hybrid, not a shell who has been imprisoned his whole life and has no rights on _any_ planet, and certainly not a convicted criminal. _You_ have the power. _You_ make the decisions. _You_ run the show. If there's no hope for you, then there's no hope for the rest of us."

Kai was silent for a while.

"You sound like Cinder."

"She rubs off on you," Thorne admitted.

"I'm glad you were there for her when I wasn't," he said.

Thorne scratched his cheek, unwilling to acknowledge the twinge of guilt that itched at him. "It's not like that between me and Cinder, you know, no matter what I tried to make you believe."

"I know."

"We're just friends," Thorne felt the need to clarify.

"I know. But the two of us are clearly the two main men in Cinder's life, aren't we?"

Thorne paused. He hadn't really thought about it. He'd never been the main man of anyone's life, really, and it had a good ring to it. He could think of someone else with whom he'd like to hold that title, but in a different fashion. Now was not the time to entertain that thought, though. "Yeah, I guess we are."

"I think so," said Kai. "The way she talks about you, and how I've seen you two interact, it's like you're the older brother she never had. And now I have to convince him that I'm worthy of dating his sister."

That made Thorne smile. "I like that analogy," he said slowly. "Listen, about everything that happened between us on the ship. I shouldn't have..." He trailed off. He'd told Cress that he would never apologize to Kai. Had he really meant it?

"Don't worry about it," said Kai, which took Thorne by surprise. "I realized that some of my jealousy was really more about my own insecurities with myself and where I stood with Cinder. Once I figured all that out, you didn't really bother me anymore. Except, I guess, for some of your snark and unending determination to make me feel like an idiot."

Thorne dug his fingernails into his palm to keep from bursting out in laughter.

"No matter what happens, I appreciate what you've done for Cinder. What you've been to her. I'll never be able to thank you enough, and I hope to earn your respect someday."

Thorne was thrown. The Emperor? Attempt to earn the respect of a convict? While he wanted to relish in the idea, a small part of him—somewhere—shifted ever so slightly. Not too many people thought Thorne was worthy of respect. He of course made everyone think he was—he _knew_ he was—but someone admitting it out loud was a completely different story. "What about a few minutes ago when you were all about giving up on Cinder? That certainly won't earn you any points with me."

"My life has been complete doom and gloom lately. It's easy to get caught up in that. You try living with Levana."

Thorne smirked. "Doom and gloom, huh? Well let me tell you, my dear emperor, that those are two words that cannot be associated with Captain Carswell Thorne." He paused. "Well, except for extremely dire situations."

Kai let out a forced laugh. "Yeah."

"Even those aren't so terrible sometimes. Right now, a kiss is the going rate for near-death experiences. It's kind of a point system." He smiled at the memory.

"That's a story I want to hear," said Kai.

"Nevermind that right now. When this is all over and I've been pardoned—"

" _If_ we make it," Kai cut him off.

"This will end well, so don't even go down that road," Thorne continued.

"Okay. When this is all over...?"

"We should go out for a drink sometime," he said simply. "Hang out."

Kai laughed. "You know, that would be great."

"No pressure, Your Majesty, but you don't laugh enough. Humor helps with the doom and gloom."

"If there's something to laugh about."

"There is _always_ something to laugh about."

"Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever just gone out to have a drink with someone for no other reason than to hang out."

"That's terrible, and frankly, unacceptable," said Thorne, shaking his head.

"In politics, everything has a purpose."

"Oh we'll have a purpose."

"Such as…?"

"Well, for starters, I can teach you how to be a criminal mastermind."

"A criminal mastermind?"

"That's right. It's not as easy as it looks."

"Now how could I possibly turn down an offer like that?"

Thorne heard Kai's characteristic sarcasm, but he also heard that it was laced with a smile.


	20. Chapter 20

Even before the walls began to tremble, Z's heightened senses alerted him to the impending danger. His genetic modifications, after all, were created not only with the intent to _harm_ Earthens, but also to be able to protect important Lunar authority _from_ harm, such as his former Master. Now that he no longer had a Master—no longer had a pack—Jael couldn't use his instincts against him. Instead, Ze'ev could finally take advantage of using them for self-preservation, like a real wolf would.

In this situation, however, he couldn't protect himself and four other people at the same time. If he hadn't already been helping Cress at the moment that the trembling began, maybe he could have gotten a better head start on protecting the others. Instead, he could only shout, "Get down!"

Cinder dove to the ground near him but Cress stayed frozen at his side, one hand still in his. She'd be the first to be crushed with the intense fear that he could smell radiating off of her petite body. He picked Cress up without a second thought and shoved her roughly through the opening he'd just created in the rock wall. He didn't mind if she slipped this time—though of course he hoped she wouldn't—but it was more important to get her to the other side. "Run, Cress!" he yelled as she gasped at his forcefulness. "Get away from the opening and get to safety!"

He didn't wait to hear Cress' reply, because he had known even before he picked her up that she wouldn't want to leave the group, especially with Thorne almost fifty meters away. He had barely formed the thought when the falling rocks pitched everything into murky darkness. It wasn't the lack of light that then rendered him useless—he was used to seeing in the dark. In fact, he and the other operatives had even trained for this. All the time he'd spent underground on Luna with the pack had shown him his fair share of dark tunnels. What made this situation impossible was all the dust that flew into his eyes, practically blinding him.

Z could no longer see Cinder and the thought of losing the lost princess yet again brought on an internal anxiety. He had to find her. At the same time, his wolf instincts were telling him to get away from any vibrations, crashing, and rattling that alerted his body to nearby danger. Not that he couldn't handle some cuts and bruises here and there. But a tunnel collapse? It would could ruin everything—could even ruin him.

He had to get to Cinder. She should still be in close proximity, and of course, the most important to save if there was to be any hope left for Luna. After that, he'd get Kai. _Sorry Thorne, you're last,_ he thought as he prowled through the debris that floated into the air. His training had taught him to prioritize as well. First his future queen, then the Emperor, then Thorne. Unfortunately, Thorne was blind, and this made him even more likely to die. Ze'ev pushed any thoughts of death aside and tried to rely on smell and sound to get any hint of a person near him.

He heard a scream. Farther way. Masculine. Kai or Thorne.

He began to call out for Cinder. He finally spotted her when he realized that another cascade of rocks was heading right where she lay. Z barreled into her with all his might and covered her with his body as rocks rained down in the spot they had just vacated. Cinder's body became limp below him, and he wondered if he'd knocked the wind out of her with the force of his body. Grimacing, he continued to shield her or move her accordingly as more rocks crashed around them. A few hit him, and though their impact made him yelp, it was nothing he couldn't recover from. He willed his eyes to see through the painful dust, and it appeared as though the rocks were beginning to form a barrier.

Z wouldn't be able to reach the guys in this state—not with Cinder unconscious. It wasn't safe to leave her. But if the rocks kept piling up, the two of them would get blocked in as well. He had to retreat. As much as he wanted to save them, his priority changed to keeping the heir to the Lunar throne alive. He'd never forgive himself later if he abandoned her right now, and neither would Scarlet. Pain at the thought of her rushed to the surface, but he refused to acknowledge it.

He was a soldier. A spy. An Alpha.

He protected.

And he would protect Cinder now just as he wanted to protect Scarlet. Now was not the time for weakness.

He picked Cinder up and tried to cradle her close to his body so that her head was purposely beneath him, away from harm. It was an uncomfortable position even for him, and he knew most of her body would be dragging along the tunnel floor. Z strained his eyes to find the hole he'd so foolishly enlarged only minutes ago by moving that heavy rock—the one that had undoubtedly caused the tunnel ceiling to lose its support in this area. It must have been only ten more meters away. If he could only make it without taking another beating from the rocks...

He took in a hit of dust as he inhaled too sharply, and his lungs screamed at him as he tried to cough it all out with each crawl forward. _Luna_. Moments like this didn't make him miss his home at all. He'd take the countryside of France any day over all these space problems that his colony liked to pretend were "superior" to Earth. Lack of resources, space debris, domes, fake habitats, fake air, fake queens.

He was almost there. Z could see the rock wall in front of him now. He could also hear the rocks behind him, though. They were at his heels. There was no more time. He pulled Cinder to his chest, and just like the animal he knew he was, he threw all the energy he had left into one long leap through the hole.

As he stuck the landing, he rolled to his side, pulling Cinder over him to cushion her fall. A shriek erupted from Cress, who apparently hadn't run away at all. Ze'ev filled his heavy lungs with cleaner air as he lay panting on the ground. He watched the rocks seal the hole behind him shut, making the noise of the crumbling tunnel more like a dimmer echo in his ears.

Kai and Thorne were gone. He was alone, with only the company of a sobbing shell and an unconscious princess to complete their mission now.

 _Welcome home,_ he muttered.


	21. Chapter 21

Cinder struggled helplessly in her mind as her cybernetics forced her system to reboot, scan, and reboot again. When she finally passed all the system tests, she was groggy and felt like she was back on the Rampion with Thorne just after their prison break. She opened her eyes to instead see Wolf peering over her, lines of nervousness etched on his features.

"Are you okay? Are you alright?"

She tried to sit up and groaned. Wolf steadied her. "I am now. My automatic shut down feature has distinct disadvantages in high stress situations, I'm noticing. This time, it just didn't think the environment was safe, I guess. Which, when you think about it, is terrible because shouldn't I be trying to escape that environment then instead of blacking out and remaining in it?" It was hard not to sound bitter. She was sick of not having control over her own body.

Wolf frowned. "So you're not hurt."

She wiggled the important limbs. "Just sore. Something or _someone_ , more accurately, knocked me out, I think. Someone landed on me and that's the last thing I remember before blacking out."

"That was me," said Wolf sheepishly. "You were about to get bulldozed by rocks."

"Oh. Well thanks, then."

Wolf squeezed her shoulder and offered her his hand to get up, but something else clicked inside her, distracting her. "Wait, who's hurt? Who screamed? Where's...?" She trailed off, finally shifting her focus away from Wolf in front of her. Cress sat on the ground a few feet away, wringing her hands and looking like she was trying to hide the fact that she was sniffling. Cinder looked past her. Looked around. Did another sweep of the room. Froze.

No Thorne.

No Kai.

"Where are they?" She demanded. A small hiccup of a suppressed cry escaped from Cress, and Cinder felt her breathing stop. She turned back to Wolf immediately. "Well?"

Wolf ran his fingers over his brow and dropped his gaze. "Gone."

" _Gone?"_ Cinder thought her heart might collapse. " _They...died?"_ The words escaped before she could stop them. Another noise of despair left Cress, sending Cinder's heart plummeting even further.

Wolf squeezed her shoulder again. "You need to calm down. We can't have you shutting down again."

"But—"

"I didn't mean that they were necessarily dead. It's a possibility, of course—one that we will all have to come to terms with"—his eyes shifted to Cress momentarily—"but all we know right now is that they are gone."

"Wolf," she snarled, "stop trying to sound all diplomatic or whatever it is you're doing. _Where_ have they gone?"

"They're on the other side of the rock pile." Cinder faced Cress, who was the one to deliver the blow. "We can't reach them," she said quietly, wringing her hands again nervously.

Cinder's breathing steadied a little at that news, though. "You guys have tried moving the rocks already, then?"

Cress' eyes became hopeful. "Oh, would you? I tried to convince Wolf but he…"

"We're not doing that," said Wolf firmly.

"Wolf! Those are Thorne and Kai over there! Thorne and _Kai._ The Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth! The one who has to convince Levana to marry her here on Luna if our master plan is going to work, remember?!"

"I moved the rocks once already," Wolf said quietly. "You saw what happened. I won't endanger us further. If they're alive on the other side, another collapse could hurt them too."

Cinder jumped to her feet. "But we can't just leave them there!" She began to walk towards the makeshift wall.

"That's what I said," said Cress.

"Look," said Wolf. "I'm really sorry. I know Kai is important to you, and Thorne is important to Cress, but—"

"Thorne is important to me too!" said Cinder. "Thorne is…Thorne is…" Cinder didn't know how to shape the words in front of them. But it was easier to focus on Thorne than focus on Kai. _Her_ Kai. Who she'd only just been reunited with. She needed him, and not just for her plan to work.

"Please, Wolf," said Cress, coming to join them. "Please."

"No," he said firmly.

"I—I command you to move those rocks!" said Cinder defiantly. "As your rightful Lunar Queen," she added, in case it wasn't clear.

Wolf snorted. " _Your Highness,_ as your loyal soldier, I cannot put you in more danger in this obviously weak tunnel structure."

His tone was mocking, but only a little, and Cinder bristled before she felt stupid for having tried to use a power play on him. Not that she'd really expected it to work. _Some Queen she'd be_. She deflated as she tried to push the wall herself. It didn't budge.

She sank against the wall, feeling her back scrape up against the rough texture as her shirt pulled up slightly behind her. She enjoyed how it hurt. It was physical pain, which, in this case, was better than the emotional buildup that was already fostering in her usual throbbing headache in place of tears. "What are we going to do, then?" she whispered.

"We regroup. Make new plans. Figure something out," said Wolf determinedly. "We've still got our most powerful weapon: you. I can help out somewhat as long as there aren't top-tier thaumaturges around, which I expect we won't run into until we get to Artemisia. Cress is still the key player for all our surveillance, hacking, and general net needs."

Cress shook her head. "I'm worthless. I'm totally worthless. That's why you shoved me through the opening, isn't it? Because you knew I wouldn't be able to save myself or anyone else."

"I saved Cinder too," he said gruffly. "You were just right next to me."

"You're not worthless," said Cinder. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even be here now."

That didn't seem to comfort Cress at all, because she slumped down onto the ground too.

"I don't mean that this rock collapse is your fault," Cinder corrected. "If it weren't for you we wouldn't even know that Levana was planning to kill Kai, or anything. Thorne and I would have been captured while on the Rampion. You saved our lives, Cress. Not to mention we wouldn't have been able to get to Luna without being detected, or have any idea where Scarlet was."

Wolf straightened. "I'm still going to get Scarlet. I'm not going to give up on defeating Levana, but I'm still getting her. I won't let her suffer any longer, regardless of any of your royal decrees."

Cinder half-smiled, too tired and upset to put any real effort into it. "Of course you are. Scarlet has always been part of the plan, and we're not changing that."

Wolf nodded. "Thank you."

She tried to focus. "You were saying—we need to regroup?"

"We need allies now more than ever. Without Kai it will be more difficult. But we've still got a whole lot of disgruntled Lunars. I say we stick with Plan B and revise our strategy."

"Plan B being that house you mentioned, where someone you used to know lives, and _might_ be trustworthy?" She couldn't hide her skepticism.

"It's my house," he said. "I mean, where I lived before I became a soldier. I think my parents still live there. I think they'll help us after Levana took both of their kids from them."

"Oh, Wolf…"

"I'd rather not talk about it," he said. "But we can't stay here. The longer we dawdle, the less chance we have of making it out alive."

Cress inhaled, and her quiet voice filled the silence that followed Wolf's statement as everyone processed the new information about Wolf's background. "Do your parents…hate Shells?"

Wolf furrowed his brow. "I don't know. I'm sorry."

Cress nodded, but then turned to Cinder with pleading eyes. "But what about Thorne and Kai? What if they're alive and need help?"

Cinder wished Iko were here. Iko's processor would whir with calculations and probabilities. How long they could live if they were still alive and trapped. How long it would take them to escape. Would Iko realize that everything had gone wrong? Would she see news that their podship had perhaps already been discovered in wake of the tunnel collapsing? She tried to think, tried to use her pounding head.

"If they're alive, then they could go back to the podship."

Cress shook her head. "No, not if Thorne is still blind. Kai can't fly. Thorne would think that's stupid."

"Right. Okay…so they're alive, and they take the other tunnel?"

"You mean the one at the clearing, that was like a fork before we took this route?"

"Yes."

"But if they're hurt?"

"They'll help each other," said Cinder.

"They don't like each other, though."

Cinder couldn't help but think the same thing. "No, but they'll take care of each other. Their arguments are mostly banter, I think. They wouldn't jeopardize their lives just because they're not best friends."

"Maybe they'll meet us at the house," said Wolf. "We did say that was the backup plan."

"But they don't have glamour." Cinder knew this was a glaring problem. They all had different strengths, but glamour was one of the most important ones here. How would they fare?

Cress bit her lip. "Thorne is resourceful. He managed to find me in the desert even when he was blind, had no money, and didn't know where I'd gone. If they're alive, he could find a way."

Cinder's thoughts caught on the word "if." If they were alive. If they could get to the other tunnel. Cress looked like she was just trying to reassure herself.

Wolf moved to stand in front of them and extended both his hands. "It's settled then. We'll go to the—my parents'—house and reunite with them there." It was a forced sentence, she could tell, but she had to give him credit for turning his "they're gone" finality into something that at least was a bit more optimistic. Even if she couldn't tell whether he was being serious. It didn't matter. They didn't have anywhere else to go right now.

Cinder took Wolf's hand and stood. She brushed off as much dust off as possible and almost gasped at how raw her back felt from the rock scratches. She would have to take care of that with the medkit later. "We should be able to reach the manufacturing sector easy enough. It's right next to this sector. We'll see where the tunnel comes out and go from there."

They both turned to Cress, but she remained rooted to her spot, all the blood drained from her already pale face, just shaking her head over and over. "I can't leave him," she said.

Cinder's heart broke. She felt the same way about Kai.

"He came for me," Cress continued. "I needed his help and he came for me. Now he needs my help and _I_ need to save him now." Her voice became almost hysterical. "I didn't even get to say goodbye. _I can't leave him. I can't leave him."_

Cinder could only stand there as Cress came undone. She doubled over, clutching at her stomach as sobs claimed her body. It was as though the life had been sucked out of her, her very being destroyed. Cinder wanted to say something—wanted to comfort her—but Cinder knew that it would be in vain. Cinder crumpled to her knees, the mere sight of Cress in this state nearly taking away any strength Cinder had left to keep her resolve.

It was done. They'd made their decision and had to leave them behind.

If only Cinder could cry too. Then maybe she could express how devastated she was too. Instead, she just looked heartless. _Kai_. Stars, how she missed him already. He had to be okay, he had to have survived. It just couldn't end like this.

It was Wolf who snapped her back to reality, as usual, when he walked over to Cress and just picked her up despite her struggles. Realizing she was no match for him, Cress finally wrapped her arms around Wolf's neck and buried herself in his massive shoulder. " _Tho-orne…"_ she cried. " _Tho-orne_ … _No-o-o_ …"

He began walking, and motioned for Cinder to follow him. She got up off her knees, and began the dizzying, miserable trek in the wake of Cress' tears.

"I'm sure they're worried about us too," she whispered into the dark tunnel. "I'm sure they're devastated too."

* * *

"Someone's coming. Two people, I think." Wolf tried to flatten himself along the tunnel wall, sniffing and straining his ears. The whole concept of Wolf being, well, _a wolf_ still made her uneasy sometimes. Cress, now calmer and standing between the two of them, tried to make herself disappear behind Wolf.

"Construction workers? Police? Thaumaturges?"

Wolf glanced at Cinder and gave her a weird look. "I can't smell their occupation."

"Right, sorry."

"Remember, as soon as you can detect their bioelectricity, they'll be able to detect yours as well. It won't be long before they know other people are in here," he whispered.

"If they're not thaumaturges, you could just knock them out easily, couldn't you?" asked Cress.

He frowned. "Probably not the best idea. Let's leave that as a last resort if Cinder can't manipulate them. It'd be better not to leave a bloody mess in here. It would be too suspicious."

Cinder nodded. "I have my tranquilizer darts too, you know, to avoid, um, a bloody mess. But first I'm going to try to get them to help us. Cress—they won't be able to detect you, so I think it's better if for the time being you go hide farther back in the tunnel."

"I want to help," she said.

"You are helping," said Wolf, "by hiding. You will be like our secret weapon."

Cinder and Wolf exchanged an understanding glance over Cress's head. "Let's do this," she said.

Another two minutes and sure enough, two people could be heard in the distance.

"I can't believe this tunnel collapsed again, Stella," said a male voice briskly. "This is going to set us back weeks."

"What do you think caused it this time?" A female—Stella. "There was no reported debris coming in from the forecasters last night."

"Who knows. This thing's been in shambles for a long time."

"Well lucky us, we get to risk our lives coming in here. I'd feel safer in our hover."

"You know a hover inside this tunnel wouldn't be safe right now, Stella."

The two said something indistinguishable but their footsteps approached. Then: "Hey—is there someone—"

"Now," breathed Wolf.

Cinder connected with their bioelectricity almost immediately. It was harder than she had expected, but not as terrible as she'd worried about. These weren't just mere Earthens, but clearly Lunars with some gifts. They resisted her mental attack from the onslaught, but Cinder held on tightly, some heat rushing up her spine. She hadn't felt it in awhile, but in a way it was comforting to know that she must be doing something right if her body was reacting. Even though there were two of them, it was easier to control them than to deflect Wolf's feral mind in training. After a smaller battle of the minds, Cinder emerged from where they had been pressed against the wall when she was certain she had control of them.

"Everything is taken care of," she said, conjuring up an image of her in an identical construction uniform that those in front of her wore. "I was here when it happened. A team has already been dispatched."

"We weren't informed," said the male.

"Yes you were," said Cinder, twisting their strings of bioelectricity carefully. "You just forgot."

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Unfortunately, two people were hurt," Cinder continued. She could sense Wolf not far away, and she wondered if he was preparing himself to attack in case she couldn't convince them to help her. "They are bleeding and we need to transport them a medical facility quickly. Do you have a hover?"

"Yes," said Stella blankly, "at the entrance, only about a five minute walk from here."

"Excellent," said Cinder. "We'll use that then. Is the pilot at the ready?"

"I'm the pilot," said the man.

"I can fly too," muttered Stella.

"Wonderful," said Cinder. "I'll make sure to report how helpful you were to your superiors."

"Thank you," they chimed.

"Another thing," said Cinder. "Do you have any clothing we can borrow? There have been some injuries, as I mentioned, and we need to stench the blood. A med team hasn't arrived yet."

They looked at each other, considering. "You can have our jackets," said Stella finally. She began to take hers off. Cinder coaxed the man into compliant thoughts, telling him that he _wanted_ to help, that he was being a _hero_ by doing this. His jacket came off soon too. Good. Now at least Cress and Cinder could wear their jacket as a mock uniform when they left the tunnel. Wolf would have to stick out, but it was better than all three of them in their current outfits.

"Thank you," said Cinder, "let's proceed to the hover."

"It's dangerous to bring it in here," said the man.

"I need to inspect the hover to make sure there will be enough room and then contact my team. My colleagues will join us. Now, let's get moving." Cinder let their thoughts linger on their helpfulness and desire to walk to the hover. She was starting to work up a sweat, and hoped they wouldn't notice. Luckily, they turned back to the direction they came. She motioned for Wolf and Cress to walk behind them, all the while telling Stella and the man that they had no interest in discovering who the other two team members were.

Cinder dropped the jacket for Cress on the ground, and wrapped hers around her waist, her pack in the way of putting it on immediately. They arrived at the hover soon enough, and Cinder almost lost all her grasp on their minds as light flooded into her eyes from the windows around the entrance. Stella stopped briefly, and turned to look at Cinder, brow furrowed, and Cinder quickly pushed all of her energy into reclaiming the space in her mind that she had almost vacated moments ago. Stella straightened, and then returned to the hover. The man jumped in and pushed open the door.

Cinder watched as Wolf and Cress slipped in. _You don't care about them_ , she repeated in her mind. _You don't care about them. They're just workers here to do their job, like you. It's important that we all work together._

The concentration she was exerting was draining her. She'd never manipulated anyone this long before. She was starting to think about how she'd ever defeat Levana like this, but relished in the fact that she'd likely have many Lunars to practice on before then. She was _Princess Selene_ , and everyone said her glamour was strong. She could do this.

Cinder held on long enough for the man to start the hover and bring it off the ground. Then she tried to convince Stella that she had to go back and get to the injured, because the other workers needed more help. She sensed Stella's rising panic at the thought of those who were hurt, and it lifted Cinder's spirits. Maybe not all Lunars were bad. Maybe she'd only been exposed to the terrible ones thus far. Maybe some of her future citizens actually had a heart. _Run, Stella,_ she encouraged. Stella ran.

Cinder jumped in the hover, already feeling less light-headed now that Stella was no longer under her control. She focused all her energy on the man, barely registering that Cress and Wolf were staring intently at her from the back of the hover.

"This hover isn't big enough," she said to the man. "We'll need to get the supplies ourselves and bring them back. I'm not sure why the med team is taking so long to arrive." The man nodded. Then she turned to Wolf and said, "Where is the closest medical facility?"

Wolf nodded, understanding. Cinder didn't want to give away the directions to their safe house nor indicate that they intended to stay in the manufacturing sector. Once they got rid of Roland, who knew what he might share with other people once he was no longer under the influence of glamour.

Wolf recited an address that the hover seemed to pick up on automatically, and the four of them burst out of the tunnel into the brilliant light of Luna.


	22. Chapter 22

"How's your head?" asked Thorne.

"It's sore," said Kai, instinctively putting his hand to his forehead. He winced. "I've got a bruise the size of an egg."

"I know the feeling," said Thorne, who was obviously well-versed in head injuries of late. "Can you still see?"

"What kind of question is that?" said Kai. "I think I would tell you if I suddenly went blind too."

"Well, we keep stumbling into things."

"Sorry if I forgot to turn on my tunnel vision."

"Well at least you've got your wonderful sense of humor back," said Thorne dryly. "Can't you at least shine your port?"

"It's not working," he said irritably. "We went over this a million times already."

"Check it again."

"Check _yours_."

"Making fun of the blind. Nice."

Kai ignored him. He had found that once Thorne started chatting, it was hard to get him to shut up. Perhaps he was uncomfortable with silence, but Kai suspected that he probably just liked the sound of his own voice. Despite some of their bickering, though, he'd grown more accustomed to having Thorne by his side, and in some ways, it comforted him. Thorne actually had a bit of a sharp wit to his cocky personality, and without any women around to fight over, well, he could actually be quite entertaining.

And Kai really needed to entertained, or at least distracted. They'd walked at least an hour and a half, it seemed, since their last break, but there was no indication of the tunnel ending any time soon. Kai thought that the longer they spent in there, the more his eyes would get used to the darkness, but to him it seemed like the tunnel was getting blacker all the time. He had the distinct impression that they were going down into the depths of Lunar rock, rather than towards a city.

At least he hadn't thrown up again. He was going to need another break though, and _soon._ Maybe even sleep. Both of them were exhausted and Kai wasn't in good shape. He needed an extended period of rest to recover. He'd been awake now for several hours since the original rock impact. That had to be enough time for him not to get any permanent brain damage if he fell asleep, right? Not like Thorne…he hoped.

"Do you want me to put in more of your drops?" he asked.

Thorne cringed. Kai knew the feeling. It had been beyond awkward the first time, being so close to each other's faces and touching each other. They knew it had to be done, but it hadn't exactly been a bonding experience. Despite the awkwardness, Kai was starting to get the feeling that they were beginning to understand each other.

"Lucky, I don't need more drops until later tonight. If it is tonight. Do we have any idea what time it is?"

"Still no port, Thorne."

"Nevermind. Never cared much for technology anyway."

"Interesting," he commented.

"Why is that interesting?"

"Oh you know…because Cress is so into technology."

Thorne's grip tightened slightly against Kai's arm, but then loosened again almost immediately. "Yeah, Cress is brilliant with technology and I'm not. Hardly interesting."

Kai decided to let it go, remembering how Thorne had asked him earlier not to ask him about Cress. "Yeah, what was I thinking?" he said, though he knew it came out a bit more sarcastic than he had intended.

"What _is_ interesting is how many women we're going to be able to get after this whole revolution is over."

Kai purposely made them both stumble just a bit. "Oops."

"Yeah," said Thorne, once they were walking at a normal pace again, though Kai was going slower in an attempt to watch his step to the best of his ability in the dark. "It's really time for me to get back in the game as soon as we get off this dumb rock."

"Back in the game, huh."

"You know, I've been in prison for almost a year. I haven't really had a break since I got out. Sure, this whole escapade is better than sitting in a cell, obviously, but I haven't been able to kick back and relax, really, when you think about it. Too much 'doom and gloom' with Cinder, as you call it. I can't wait to get you to Levana so that you can fake re-propose to her, convince her to have the wedding on the moon, and then we take her down. Then I'm free."

"The key to all of this is Cinder. We can't do it without her, in case you've already forgotten the small detail of how she's the Lunar heir. I may be an Emperor on Earth and Levana may need to marry me, but I'm completely worthless up here without Cinder."

"Maybe we should find out."

Kai shook his head. "Are you crazy?"

"Maybe just a little desperate to start over," he replied.

"You think I want to be here? I didn't even come of my own volition!" Kai's frustration was beginning to make his head pound again, so he took a few breaths to steady himself. "We can't go anywhere alone. We're just two Earthens without glamour. We're sticking to Plan B, just like you said. We're going to find the others."

"I know," said Thorne. "Trust me, I know." He sighed. "I just want to get off this stupid rock. Have some fun, meet some ladies."

"Seeing as your impaired vision might have caused you to forget facial expressions, I'd like to point out that someone rolling his eyes at you can mean that he thinks you're totally full of crap. And I am rolling my eyes right now. A lot."

"Just because I can't see doesn't mean I can't roll my own eyes right back at you."

Kai steadied his breathing again. "Haven't you ever thought about giving the opposite sex a break?"

"Never," said Thorne without hesitation.

"You know..." Kai considered carefully before deciding that he wasn't going to heed Thorne's plea to not bring up a certain topic. "You sure talk a lot for someone who essentially says nothing."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It _means_ I know you're in love with Cress and you're just talking big right now because you can't admit it."

"Not true," said Thorne.

"Fine," said Kai, throwing up his free hand. "When this is over, go meet your _ladies_. Consider this, though: I've seen the two of you interact together for just a week and any fool can see that there is something there between the two of you. And if you don't figure out what that is soon, you're going to regret it for the rest of your life. Which, considering where we are and what we plan to do, might not actually be too long."

Thorne scoffed. "Love advice from the Emperor."

"Better than love advice from the man who can't admit his feelings," he retorted.

Thorne was silent for a while, then muttered, "I'm not the one marrying an evil queen."

"See? See that? You're doing it again. Deflecting your feelings."

"I'm not talking about feelings with you," Thorne insisted.

"Because you can't handle your feelings! I don't blame you. Stars, it's terrifying when you meet an amazing girl and suddenly realize you might actually have a shot with her. And I don't care if this topic is too _personal_ for you anymore, because I'm walking in a tunnel on Luna with a head injury and a convict holding on to my arm. I'll say what I want."

"Let's take a break," said Thorne.

"Great idea," said Kai crossly, though he was relieved that he would be able to rest.

They walked another few minutes in silence, until they both decided that at this point they had no idea where they were, if anyone was following them, or if anyone even knew this tunnel existed. It'd been dead silent the entire time they'd walked. Kai finally decided to sit them down on one side of a slight turn. At least they would be slightly hidden if someone came from the other direction. There was enough debris littered around for them to each have something small to sit on, but Kai didn't care. He just wanted to lean his head against the rock.

They each drank a small amount of their water. Thorne twirled his cane around his hands a few times, until he finally spoke again in a quiet voice. "What shot do I have with Cress anyway?"

Kai looked up from his bottle of water. "She definitely has a crush on you. It's about the size of Jupiter."

Thorne let out a laugh. "Yeah, she did, until she found out who I really was."

"I'm totally serious, Thorne. That girl is just waiting for you to come around."

"It's not just that," he said. "You're an Emperor. You repealed the Cyborg Act for your cyborg girlfriend. What did I ever do to deserve Cress?"

"I didn't just do that for Cinder, you know. It was the right thing to do."

Thorne stabbed his cane into the ground and began tracing circles with it. "And what's the right thing to do here? We survive all this and then I take Cress back to jail with me? Great plan."

"I thought I was pardoning you," said Kai with a wry smile.

Thorne finally smiled. "Ah yes. Now _that_ is a great plan." He was silent again, then frowned. "There's been a few times when I've wanted to say something, you know. I even almost did, once."

"I think the real problem here is that you're completely terrified of stepping up to the plate when you finally have the chance. Instead of dealing with that, you sit around talking about how you want to waste your time messing around with girls that don't matter to you."

"Love advice from the Emperor indeed."

Kai wanted to make a smart remark, but he'd given enough speeches for the day and was struggling to keep his eyes awake. "Thorne, I really need to sleep a little."

Thorne picked his up cane. "I guess that should be okay now. I can't figure out why in the name of spades we haven't gotten out of the tunnel yet, so we might as well take our chances and rest."

"Do you want to take turns sleeping?"

"Good idea. You go first. That way I can make sure you don't die."

"Gee, thanks."

* * *

Thorne woke up from his nap to Kai poking him in the side with his cane. He reached out to grab the cane away from him, but was startled by a sudden revelation. He thought he actually saw a flash of movement. Thorne blinked furiously, trying not to get his hopes up, and looked again. It was still dark when he opened his eyes. He sighed.

"What?" asked Kai.

Thorne looked in the direction of his voice, and once again was surprised at the thought that something had moved. He waved his hand and thought he could make out something. "Kai," he said slowly. "Will you move your hands?"

There was definitely a change in something that Thorne was seeing. _Seeing_.

"Quick!" he said. "Put in some more drops!"

"Right now?"

"Right now! I think they're working. I think I can _see_ something."

Kai's voice was excited. "Oh stars! That's incredible, Thorne."

Thorne grinned. "I know! Maybe I can speed up the process if I just take another dose."

"I don't think it works like that."

"Whatever, Kai, just do it," he insisted. "It's probably almost time for my next round anyway."

"Alright…"

Kai took Thorne's drops from him as he waited impatiently. This time, Thorne didn't flinch at all when Kai put his hand on his cheek. He didn't even mind the drops going into his eyes the way he normally did, even when Cress did it. He was slightly disappointed, though, when after blinking a few times he still didn't feel like he could see any better.

"I guess it didn't work," he said, trying to sound casual.

"Well hey, you thought you saw something right?"

"I know I did. I saw something move."

"This is really good news."

"We should just keep moving," said Thorne. "Maybe it'll just keep getting better."

After another half hour, though, Thorne still saw the same blackness. He did think that he saw more movement every now and then, but he was getting the impression that Kai had stopped believing him, so he kept it to himself. Kai told him not to be discouraged because the tunnel _itself_ was just pitch black, and Kai could barely see anything anyway, even with fully functioning eyes. It didn't really make him feel any better.

Kai, on the other hand, finally seemed to be improving both in health and mood. At least he didn't have to worry too much about him anymore. Cinder would be proud.

Kai warned him about another turn, and suddenly the tunnel started to climb uphill. They both began to breathe heavier with the effort it took to synchronize their walking and adjust to the incline. And yet, after a while, Thorne got the distinct impression that the blackness in his eyes was becoming less black. He said nothing and just continued walking, until Kai stopped them.

"Okay, we must be getting closer to _something_ now, considering that it's finally stopped being dark as night in here."

Thorne moved his eyes in every direction, then swiveled to face Kai, who Thorne realized looked like a small fuzzy blob next to him. "I knew it! I wasn't imagining it! Kai, I can see some light!" The fuzzy blob that was Kai moved slightly, but Thorne caught it. "You're moving right now."

"Can you see this?" asked Kai.

Thorne squinted, but saw nothing. "No."

"I was sticking out my tongue," he said.

"Let me get closer," said Thorne. He leaned in, but there was instantly a hand against his chest. "Just a minute. Why don't you let _me_ pull your face closer to mine? We don't want any accidents here."

Thorne grimaced. "Excellent point."

It was a bit awkward as Kai pulled Thorne closer by his shirt, but Thorne couldn't have cared less at this very moment. All he could focus on was the fact that he was _able_ to focus. When Kai stopped him with another abrupt hand against his chest, Thorne realized that he could actually make out a face.

Kai's face.

"I can see you, Kai, I can see you! Oh mother of stars, I can see you!" Kai's mouth moved into a smile, and Thorne lit up with delight. "I could kiss your handsome face right now."

Kai pushed him back just a little bit, but Thorne could tell that he hadn't stopped smiling though. "Please don't."

"You're a bit blurry," said Thorne excitedly, "but when I get closer"—he leaned in again, and this time Kai didn't stop him—"you get clearer! Maybe it just took a bit for my eyes to adjust to the tunnel."

"Or maybe you're just extremely near-sighted now and will need glasses."

Thorne shuddered. "Glasses? Aces, no. That would ruin my look."

"You may just have gotten at least some of your vision back and you're going to get caught up in vanity right now?" said Kai, disbelief in his voice.

"This is so anti-climactic," he said, ignoring Kai's comment. "I kind of had this big dramatic moment planned in my mind."

"What was that?"

"Do you even have to ask? I mean you're quite good looking, obviously, but this wasn't exactly the pretty sight I was hoping for the first time I saw something again." The thought stopped him, and he groaned. "Now I definitely can't tell Cress anything."

"Why not?" asked Kai.

"Let's say we get out of here alive. Let's say we make it to the safe house. Let's say I see Cress again. And let's say I'm even able to…admit to some things. To tell her that when I can see her again, when I wouldn't while I was blind?" He covered his face with his hands, allowing the darkness he'd become so accustomed to lately to sweep over him again. "She's going to think I'm the most shallow guy ever."

"Not necessarily," said Kai.

"I wouldn't even know what to say to her now."

"Look, sometimes you don't have to say anything."

"Easy for you to say."

They began walking again, but Thorne insisted that he try without Kai's help. He fell a few times, but he was too happy to care. Yes, he'd have to figure out what to do about Cress later—if he even did anything. But he could see again. Life had just become 100% easier for him.

Captain Carswell Thorne was back in the game.

Maybe they could make it to the safe house after all, and he wouldn't have to just feign confidence anymore. Maybe they stood a chance. Maybe he could even make a difference.

It was getting brighter all the time. Thorne's confidence in the tunnel grew along with the increased light. Kai was also growing more excited at the thought of getting out of the tunnel, though both of them hadn't really decided what they would do once they were on the streets of Luna. They animatedly began to discuss their options.

Kai suddenly yanked him back. "There's a man about fifty feet away. Should we run?"

Thorne stopped dead in his tracks, his hand instantly flying to the spot where he concealed his gun. "Too late for that. I can't see him. When I pull out the gun, point it in the right direction while I fire. It worked while you were unconscious on the rooftop."

Thorne whipped out his gun, but to his great dismay, his hand froze. _Lunars._

"I can't move," Kai whispered.

Thorne realized that his entire body was firmly rooted in place as well. They didn't stand a chance. "Great trick," he said to the man, who he could hear approaching. He wasn't close enough yet for Thorne to make out his exact shape. "Did you learn that one in glamour school?" he drawled.

The man didn't speak. Instead, he just approached them, and Thorne's hand passed him the gun. He really had to figure out how to hang on to his gun. He clearly hadn't learned his lesson with Sybil.

"We'll just be going now," he said. The man did not release him.

"You've got a bit of an attitude, don't you?"

Thorne felt his jaw lock when he tried to make a retort. He couldn't speak.

Kai spoke next to him instead. "No, Sir, we're just lost in the tunnel and confused. It's caused my friend a bit of stress."

"Well look at you, Earthen," said the man. "Today must be my lucky day. You're just the spitting image of a certain Emperor, aren't you?"

Kai remained silent. The man approached Thorne until his face was right in front of him. He was ugly, middle-aged, and smelled of dirt and bad breath. Thorne wished he could unlock his jaw to spit in his face. This man had just ruined the day he had gotten his eyesight back. He had no respect for this man nor any desire to try to placate him.

"You're not so bad yourself, either," said the man, after studying Thorne for several minutes. It looked like he was smiling. "I bet you'll look even better once you're clean."

"Please, will you help us?" said Kai. "We're injured."

"I'm going to help you," said the man, which took Thorne by surprise. For a moment, he expected his body to unlock. Instead, the man stepped a couple feet away until Thorne could barely make him out anymore. "Yes," he continued, "we're going to clean you up real nice. We're going to get that attitude in check too. And then you're going to make the perfect present."

Thorne didn't even have time to process his statement before pain exploded in his legs, buckling him down onto the ground as his body unfroze. He gritted his teeth in rage and agony as shards of glass began to cut up his pants and rip through his skin. His legs bled and bled and bled. Thorne tried to focus on anything else, tried to find Kai, but apparently Kai was still immobile and he couldn't find him. He turned his head away, trying to be tough, but as the shards moved their way down to his feet, he caved into his pain and began to scream.

"It's not real, Thorne, it's not real!" yelled Kai.

But Kai didn't know how much the shards were already cutting into his veins and nicking his arteries. He didn't realize that Thorne was going to die of blood loss.

Suddenly, the pain vanished as quickly as it had come. Thorne panted, his heart racing, and peered at his legs, which felt raw. He realized that he couldn't see his legs as clearly anymore, and understood with a start that it really had all been an illusion.

"We're just getting started," said the man. "I'll need you in proper obedient form before I hand you over. But I'll be merciful and give you a small break before we begin again. Let's give the Emperor's doppelganger a go, shall we?"

Thorne shut his eyes as the man turned his attention to Kai.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Though the rating hasn't changed, I would like to offer the warning that this chapter and the next delve into sensitive issues and are more adult the previous chapters of this story. That being said, despite the whole situation being despicable, please trust me.

Thorne's throat was raw and his entire body burned. The man had taken turns torturing both of them, but he'd focused the majority of his time on Thorne. It was probably because he kept goading him with smart remarks whenever possible. Kai kept telling him to shut up, but Thorne continued nonetheless. What was the point in staying silent? This Lunar was going to act like a psycho and pass them off to someone else anyway, so why not at least let out some of his frustration? But in the end, he'd finally just become too weak to respond anymore. The man had been quite pleased.

They now sat in the back of a hover. The deranged Lunar, who was flying the hover, hadn't even bothered to tie them up, considering that any time either of them even tried to move a muscle, a new wave of pain would wash over them. Their own bodies had betrayed them as they'd been marched out of the tunnel and up into the ship. They were completely helpless. At least he hadn't locked their jaws, though, so they could still talk to each other out of the corner of their mouths.

Mostly it was Kai who did the talking. He tried to come up with escape plans and think of ways to ambush the man now that they were in back in civilization. When Thorne was rather unenthusiastic about his ideas, he changed tactics and began telling Thorne that he would feel better soon, and that the after-effects of the glamour would wear off. Though he was trying to be encouraging, Thorne wasn't really sure if he believed Kai, considering that the memory of the glass shards moving to slice into his eyes was still paralyzing him.

He did appreciate the effort, though. There was something about being tortured together that was making them value each other's company a great deal more. The ability to go out and have a drink together after all this was over was really looking like a luxury compared to their current situation. It would be like an opportunity to share war stories with a fellow comrade.

The Lunar startled them from their whispered conversation. "Don't you two worry. Now that you've understood the consequences of disobeying me, we're going to get you all nice and cleaned up and you'll feel better. We can do it all over again, though, if you decide you'd rather not cooperate."

"Please don't do this," said Kai.

The man chuckled to himself. "Two Earthens! Alone! How could I have been so lucky? Father of the year, I tell you!"

He continued mumbling to himself, and Thorne wanted to reach out and whack him over the head just to get him to shut up. He settled for a different tactic. "What's that you're going on about?" he asked, and reluctantly added "Sir" when Kai gave him a firm jab in his already sore ribs.

"I'm a bum of a father, but this will make up for it. Yes. _Yes_."

"I'm sure you're a good father," said Kai, ever the politician.

"Nah," he responded.

"I would disown myself if you were my father," whispered Thorne.

"How many children do you have?" asked Kai loudly, effectively ignoring Thorne.

The man seemed surprised that they had asked him something personal, because he cleared his throat and considered the question. "A daughter." He hesitated. "Yes, I'm sure that two Earthen playthings is just what she needs. And by the looks of you, you'll be all back to your handsome selves in no time. Elara will be so pleased!"

Kai and Thorne exchanged glances. Both of them had heard Wolf describe how little Lunars developing their gift sometimes practiced on other people. It was a fact that had made all of them worry about Scarlet's safety. And now it was going to happen to them too. Maybe Scarlet could join them for that drink too, when it was all over. Thorne prayed that the Lunar girl named Elara wasn't anything like her unhinged father. With his luck lately, though, he highly doubted that she'd be any different.

The hover jerked to the right. Kai described the scenery to him, since Thorne still couldn't see anything that wasn't within his immediate line of sight. It didn't sound like much, from what Kai told him. The glittering city of Artemisia wasn't anywhere in sight, and Kai could make out some other domes in the distance, but failed to recognize them from the maps of Luna they had studied. The buildings became more run-down with every turn they took. Some people were out on the street, but the lights were dimmed, so they weren't sure if it was really morning or evening. Thorne struggled to stay awake and listen intently, but the humming of the hover coupled with pure exhaustion finally forced his eyes shut.

* * *

Kai woke him when the hover stopped, and the man threatened to hurt him again if he didn't get up immediately. Thorne tried to make his feet move, but he tripped on some of the contraptions that he hadn't seen and fell face first between the seats. He cursed loudly as Kai tried to help him up. The man clicked his tongue impatiently, and Thorne once again wanted to charge him with all his might. Which, resentfully, he knew was really no might at all against a Lunar. So he allowed Kai to guide him and followed him silently, making sure to always stay close enough so that he could focus on the back of Kai's head and know when to turn.

"Sit," the man commanded, when both of them were inside the apartment. Thorne's knees bent until he was forced into a chair. He saw Kai across the table, still blurry, but at least he could recognize his shape now. The man was blurry too, but he was glad of that—he'd seen enough of his ugly face the first time.

"Might we have the pleasure of your name?" Kai practically purred.

The man grunted. "Royer."

"It's nice to meet you, Royer," said Kai. Thorne just shook his head. How could Kai stand being polite at a time like this? He could hardly imagine how he was with Levana if this is how he acted after being tortured.

"Don't bother telling me what you used to be called," said Royer. "I'll give my daughter the pleasure of naming her new Earthen toys."

"Can't wait," drawled Thorne.

The bone in his nose broke, blood spurting everywhere. His cry became a strangled gurgling noise as blood pooled into his mouth.

"He's just—we're just scared," said Kai. "Please, Royer, he's not trying to be difficult."

More blood ran down, over his chin and onto Thorne's front. He was barely able to keep from vomiting. "I'm sorry," he spat. Some of the bleeding halted. "It won't happen again."

The glamour vanished. Thorne breathed a sigh of relief when he no longer tasted blood, but he felt his nose just to be sure—it was completely intact. Kai had been right. It wasn't worth it to talk back. Maybe that's what Kai was doing—just playing a game, just being diplomatic to appease the psychopath who held them captive. It was too bad Thorne was too accustomed to saying exactly what was on his mind and didn't make a habit of mollifying anyone. He could have used the practice.

"Now, let's get you cleaned up. You first."

Kai coughed. "He means you."

Thorne looked at the outline of the man. "What would you have me do?"

"You're filthy," said Royer, "and unacceptable as a present in your current state. So get in the bathroom, take a shower, shave, and change your clothes."

"We don't have other clothes," said Kai. Royer had made them leave their backpacks in the tunnel. If the others ever went searching for them, they wouldn't find much.

"I have plenty from my ex-wife's lovers that will fit you."

Ignoring everything wrong with _that_ statement, Thorne stood up from the table. "Would you mind leading me in the right direction? I've got something in my eye, it seems." He wasn't about to let on that he was still barely anything more than blind. Shaving was going to be very, very difficult. His thoughts clouded with disgust and anger as his legs began to walk him to the bathroom.

The only consolation was that the soap didn't smell half bad.

* * *

The next day, Thorne woke up in an unfamiliar bed that was actually somewhat soft. His mind felt more refreshed and his body seemed to have healed from the fake glass shards. He was reluctant to get up; after the unfortunate happenings in the tunnels, having a mattress was the one perk of being held against his will. He wanted to stay on this mattress forever and ignore whatever awful fate awaited him and Kai. All he wanted to do was fall back into the dream that he'd been having about Cress.

He usually didn't remember his dreams, and he was grateful that he had been allowed to keep this one. Everything about Cress was good and pure and sweet—she was everything that these Lunars weren't. What he wouldn't give to see her again, even just once, so he could apologize for the way he'd been acting lately. He'd also apologize for letting her down—for losing her in the tunnel, for not being the hero that she needed. If he were one, he probably could have figured out a way to make sure that she had gotten out of that tunnel safe. But he wasn't, and he hadn't.

Thorne rubbed his temple. He missed her so much. There wasn't any point in thinking about that though, because today would bring enough problems of its own. He needed a clear mind before it was compromised again.

As he tried to fall asleep again, he hoped that wherever she was, she was okay. And maybe, just maybe, she was dreaming of him too.

* * *

Thorne managed to avoid any more glamour torture throughout the morning by focusing his anger on complex revenge plots that always ended with Royer's neck breaking in half between Wolf's fangs. Sometimes, these thoughts even made him smile. This made it seem like he was becoming happier, which Royer was thrilled about. The fact that his sight had improved dramatically overnight was also boosting his mood. He could see Royer and Kai clearly now and if he looked across the room he no longer saw only blurry objects. He didn't have to hesitate or stumble when he walked anymore. It made his confidence escalate.

They headed out after Royer had meticulously inspected every inch of their appearance in the new clothes he had given them, which were practically identical: black slacks, a button-up white shirt, and a tie. Thorne's tie was black, which made him feel like wait staff. Kai's tie was dark blue. Royer made him roll up his sleeves a bit to make the shirt not appear too long on him, but it still worked. Thorne began to get the impression that they were going to be sold in an assembly line. But they were going to see his daughter, this _Elara_ that the man couldn't stop bragging about—she was "perfect," "precious," "an angel," "a beauty to behold." Thorne sometimes included the little girl in his revenge fantasies, just out of spite. At least Royer had fed them pretty well.

Back on the hover again, Kai and Thorne remained silent. They didn't know how to escape this man, and the weight of it was crushing them both. They acted as though they had made a mental promise not to panic in front of the other, because honestly, what good would that do them? Thorne only hoped that they'd be able to escape once they met the daughter. He didn't dare entertain the hope that she might be just a tad more compassionate than her father.

Thorne could now make out some of the sights around him, and agreed that they must be in a poorer sector. As they continued on, though, the streets they flew over became more elaborate. Cleaner. Richer. Even Thorne could see that.

They finally stopped in front of a small, almost glitteringly white house, and before he could react, Thorne felt Royer begin to play around in his mind. Suddenly, Thorne was very much looking forward to meeting Elara. Stars, it was going to be exciting! How could it not be, if she was Royer's pride and joy? And Royer—what an unfortunate life he'd had. Kai and Thorne were helping Royer out of past problems he'd made for his family. Showing up with two Earthen guys would solve everything, and Elara would see just how much he loved his daughter, even if she had been spoiled rotten by her mother.

Thorne marched into the house with Kai at his side. Kai kept trying to pass him, and Thorne almost reached out to trip him. Why did both of them have to become Elara's new toys? Why couldn't it just be Thorne? Kai was already an Emperor, after all. Maybe he should let Thorne have this honor.

When they got inside, not one but two girls came running towards them, and Thorne's jealousy increased when he remembered that Kai was still standing next to him. These weren't little girls as he had expected—they were probably the same age as Scarlet! And aces, were they cute.

He could see again, and he was feasting his eyes on women. Glorious women.

The hold on his mind vanished as one of the girls rushed to embrace Royer. "Is it true, Daddy? Did you really get me two Earthens all for myself?"

Thorne blinked and looked at Kai, who also seemed to be shaking off the thoughts that Royer had put in his mind, and decided to hold his tongue for once. Royer was nodding proudly. "Maybe you can share with your friend." He winked at the other girl. "After all, there's two of them and two of you."

Thorne swallowed, taking in the situation. He was pretty sure he had misunderstood exactly what was going on with Royer's daughter. She wasn't little at all, but he supposed he didn't know at what age Lunars honed their gift. From what Wolf had explained to them, it seemed like something that happened a lot earlier in life, not well into their teen years. So if they weren't here to be practiced on or tortured, what exactly did Royer have in mind? Things started to click when Elara raked her eyes hungrily over Thorne's body, and then did the same to Kai, who had turned into a statue. As her eyes traveled back to Thorne's chest, he almost wanted to say: _Yeah, yeah, get in line._

But words failed him when she very obviously started to undress him with her eyes. He began to feel sick.

"I didn't believe it before, Daddy, but you were right. They're very handsome." She nudged her friend. "Don't you think so, Fay?"

Fay stared at Kai for an uncomfortably long time, and didn't even bother to glance at Thorne. "Yes. Handsome," she confirmed.

"Now," said Royer, "we talked about this a bit in our comms, but don't forget that these are Earthens without glamour. You can do anything you want with them and they won't be able to resist you. Watch."

Kai began twirling on the spot. Fay and Elara giggled. Royer released him, and Kai looked like he might be a bit motion sick as he came to a halt.

"I know you have other plans for them," said Royer, "but I've shown them what happens when they disobey. Haven't I?" Royed stared down Thorne, who nodded solemnly. "Just use your gift, girls. You can be in complete control the entire time. Show them their place."

Thorne's hand reached out to Elara and caressed her cheek. The corner of her mouth twitched and she came closer, placing her hand on his chest. He tried to back away, but he was frozen on the spot, save his other hand, which wrapped around her waist to pull her in tighter. Elara was in his face, her lips almost touching his, when Royer laughed. "You've got it, sweetheart."

Elara let out a squeal and clapped her hands as she jumped up and down. "This is going to be so much fun, Fay!"

Thorne observed Fay, a blonde compared to her brunette friend, and wondered if her appearance was real—if _any_ of their faces were real or if everything about them was glamoured like Levana. Judging by how ugly Royer looked, he wouldn't be surprised. But maybe even Royer had glamoured himself into a disguise for some unknown reason.

Fay, glamour or no glamour, was still staring at Kai. She now looked like she wanted to devour him whole. Kai was trying to avoid her gaze and had chosen a spot on the floor upon which to fix his eyes, and it accentuated how red his ears were. He had definitely come to the same conclusion as Thorne.

Apparently satisfied that the girls were able to control the two of them well enough, Royer placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead and bid her farewell. "Have fun, sweetheart."

She grinned. "We will."


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The same warning from last chapter applies to this one.

"What do you think they're doing?" asked Kai.

"Who cares, as long as they leave us alone?" said Thorne. He lowered himself into another push up, trying to release some of the excess energy that was coursing through his restless body.

"They said they would be right back, though. That was at least a half hour ago," Kai insisted. He was right; after Royer had left, the girls had made them walk to the bathroom and locked them inside. They had tried searching for any useful object at all that they could use as a weapon, but the bathroom was basically bare. Kai speculated that Lunar women probably didn't need to bother with make-up or hairstyles, so it made sense that it was so empty. "No, you're right," said Kai after a hesitation. He sighed against the wall. "I obviously don't want them to come back either."

Elara and Fay had made it perfectly clear just exactly what their plans with them were for the evening. While it certainly sounded less physically painful than being tortured by a little Lunar child, neither Kai or Thorne had been able to stomach the fact that Royer had pimped the two of them to his daughter and her friend. This was a different kind of torture, and one that crossed far too many lines.

They had run through ideas of how to escape them, but they couldn't find a single way around mind manipulation. How could they run away without their feet tripping of their own accord? How could they fight back when the girls could make their own hands hurt themselves instead? There was just no way to overpower them if the girls could do anything their minds imagined in the time it took to blink. They were _beyond_ out of their league, and there was no one there to rescue them.

"Maybe they'll kill us and put us out of our misery," said Kai. "Death certainly sounds better than doing anything with them. Or," he moaned, "even worse, Royer will kill us after the girls have had enough… _fun_."

"We better not die," muttered Thorne, annoyed. "If I die and don't get my kiss, I'm going to be very angry." A vivid image of a rooftop kiss in the midst of chaos filled his mind with sadness.

"You mean that point system thing you were talking about?" asked Kai.

"Yes."

"How can you possibly be thinking about that now?"

"I think about that a lot actually," he said, moving to sit by Kai again.

Kai let out a laugh. "Well, if it's kisses you want…I think we're both about to get a lot."

Thorne punched Kai in the arm. Kai grimaced, but he laughed a little more. The traitor. Kai rubbed his arm and settled back against the wall again. His voice became somber. "If only we had glamour."

"The world couldn't handle us with glamour," said Thorne. "You and me, we would…well spades, we would break every heart on the planet, and maybe on Luna too."

"Cocky much?" asked Kai, rolling his eyes.

"Very much."

They went silent again, Thorne imagining all the possibilities, until he snapped his fingers. "Kai! No, that's it. That's it! It's official, your captain is a genius."

"What? Why? We obviously don't have glamour, _Captain_ Thorne."

"Kai," said Thorne, "what are we both good at?"

Kai shrugged. "I don't know, messing everything up?"

"No, _seduction_!"

He wiggled his eyebrows as Kai shook his head furiously. "I am _not_ good at seduction."

Thorne jumped to his feet. "You've got your country's female population under your spell!"

Kai reddened and remained on the floor, avoiding Thorne's eyes. "But I'm not _doing_ anything."

"Come off of it, man, everyone knows you're hot! As Iko likes to say, you have uncanny hotness."

Kai grimaced. "Don't talk to me like that."

Thorne batted his eyes. "I know Fay couldn't stop staring at you," he sang, knowing he would hit a nerve.

"I _hate_ Fay!" Kai burst out, and his anger almost made Thorne take a step back. "I hate Fay, I hate Elara, and I hate having all those girls on Earth fight over me. Do you know that they scream at me when they see me, and pretend like I'm not a person, just an object? Just like these disgusting Lunar girls." He crossed his arms. "I can't help it if I'm good-looking _and_ charming."

"Yes, Kai, get angry. That's the spirit," said Thorne. "You just can't help it. And we can't help ourselves much in this situation. So, we take an offensive strategy. If there's any sign that we don't want this as much as they do, they'll use their glamour to control us like Royer told them to. If we try to struggle or escape, they'll use their glamour. We have to convince them that it'll be more fun _without_ glamour. And then we strike when they're not expecting it, when their defenses are weaker."

"Strike?" said Kai.

Thorne nodded, a plan already developed in his mind, a new determination setting his jaw. He paced around the small bathroom to help him think. "The only way to avoid being glamoured is to ensure that they can't use their minds—so we render them unconscious. If we can set them up to trust us, then we take advantage of the element of surprise. We're men, and ultimately we're stronger than those little twigs."

Kai's eyes suddenly bulged with comprehension. "Thorne, as much as I hate them and hate this situation, that's terrible. You shouldn't even be thinking like that. _Cress_ is the size of Fay, in case you don't remember what she looks like."

Thorne tried to swallow his discomfort. " _Cress_ hasn't taken us hostage. _Cress_ wasn't thrilled that her father captured and tortured us. _Cress_ isn't planning on using our bodies for whatever end suits her needs." He stopped. Turned to Kai. "And I, for one, would like to get back to _Cress_. The question is whether or not you want to get back to Cinder, and what you're willing to sacrifice in order to do that."

"How will I even be able to face her after this? I'll have to tell her."

"It's not your fault. Cinder will understand." He gulped and added silently _, I hope_. He loosened his tie slightly, already feeling suffocated enough without it tight around his neck too.

"I can't hit a girl," said Kai weakly, but Thorne could tell he was reluctantly warming to the idea.

"That should be the least of your concerns. If someone was threatening our lives and I had a gun, I would shoot them without hesitation. This situation is no different. As long as they're conscious, they win. They're using _their_ strength to overpower us right now. What they're doing is completely unethical, so if our defensive strategy has to be an offensive attack, so be it."

"I've wanted to hit Levana a few times," Kai admitted. He played with his fingers, clearly ashamed of his confession. Thorne couldn't get over how upstanding of a citizen Kai really was.

"Well there you go," he said encouragingly.

"Fine," said Kai. "I see your point. But everything else leading up to that moment. Getting them to...trust us. I can't willingly do that either."

Thorne threw his hands up in the air and squatted in front of Kai so he could stare him down better. " _Do you hear yourself right now_?" he hissed. " _We need to get out of this situation._ I, for one, would rather go into this as myself than some love-sick slave who will wake up dazed when it's all over. And if you think I'm _willingly_ going into this, then you've completely misunderstood my intentions. I'm developing a battle strategy—a fight plan—not deciding it's time to go out and have fun." He stood up again and stretched his arms over his head. "If they want to play, then we play. But we play harder, and dirtier, and _we win_." He offered Kai his hand. "Are you with me?"

Kai closed his eyes, then nodded. He grasped Thorne's hand and rose to his feet as well. "Alright, I'm with you."

Thorne grinned. "Excellent. Just keep imagining your reunion with Cinder, and that should keep you motivated enough." He paused. "Oh, but Kai?"

"Yes?"

He made a face. "Just…take my cues."

* * *

When the girls let them out, Thorne thought he was prepared—thought he had convinced Kai enough for the both of them. But a dead weight hit his stomach when he saw that the girls had changed their outfits too. While they weren't identical like Kai and Thorne, there was a definite theme that summed up what this evening was all about. Elara was smirking far too wickedly for his liking, because he knew that expression all too well. It was one he'd often plastered on his own face in the past.

Thorne observed the girls with more attention as they prowled around the two of them. Elara was definitely the boss, from what he could tell. Kai would never be able to handle her. He'd be perfect for wooing Fay, the less dominant of the two. The thought gave him pause. Only days ago he'd had the opportunity to woo a girl who was also more shy by nature. He'd passed, just like he was passing on this one. Was he making a mistake? No, he convinced himself, he wasn't. He was used to wilder, spunkier girls with attitude. And this one would need to be tamed. It was a good thing she seemed to be taking more interest in him than Kai.

"Ladies," said Thorne, once again calling up the personification of a perfect gentleman. "We're very excited to be able to offer you an evening of romance."

"Romance isn't exactly what we had in mind," said Elara, stopping in front of him.

Kai burned bright red but Thorne ignored him. This situation had to be handled delicately and he was relieved that at least Kai wasn't opening his mouth.

"I know," said Thorne, winking. Elara pulled Thorne closer by his tie. He locked gazes with her and dared her silently to beat him in this game. She licked her lips. "Gorgeous," he said, "you'll have to stop tempting me like that or it's going to be hard to keep resisting."

"Isn't that the point?" said Fay.

Thorne snuck a glance at Fay, who was running her fingers through Kai's hair. Kai was the opposite of relaxed, looking at Fay as though she were infected with letumosis. Maybe Thorne had underestimated her. It seemed too late now, as he guessed it would be hard to pry her away from him.

Thorne cleared his throat and Kai snapped to attention. "The point is that we are Earthen men, and Earthen men have traditions."

Elara started to undo his tie, and everything in Thorne's body froze over as she began to control him. He realized with panic that perhaps Kai was already under Fay's glamour too. "I don't care about Earthen traditions," she said. "You're on Luna now and we have our own traditions."

"I'm sure they are admirable traditions," said Thorne. "But isn't this a little different? Isn't this your first time _with_ an Earthen, or do others come to Luna often?" Elara's hand paused, so Thorne continued. "It's exciting, isn't it? Doing something different? Isn't that why you're so eager right now?"

Thorne gritted his teeth in frustration as Elara threw his tie on the floor, ignoring him. This was not going at all according to his plan, so he needed a new plan, and fast.

"You're just an ungifted Earthen," she said.

"You're only here for our entertainment," added Fay. Thorne, unable to turn his head anymore, had no idea what state Kai was in.

"Well, if it's entertainment you want," said Thorne smoothly, "we can give that to you. Just hear me out for a minute."

Elara crossed her arms. "I'm two seconds away from glamouring you into complete complacency."

"You could do that," Thorne mused, "but how could I really give you everything I have to offer, then?" He raised his eyebrow at Elara, who pursed her lips. "Now, the two of you are _very_ attractive," he continued, "and I don't doubt that you've had many Lunar suitors already. Am I right?"

"Me more than her," said Elara.

Fay clicked her tongue. "I'm experienced too."

"That's what I thought," said Thorne smoothly. "But have you ever had this experience without glamour?" He rushed on before they could confirm or deny. "You know you're guaranteed to have a great night with an Earthen regardless, but I guarantee it will be better for you if I can be myself." He smirked, his own face taking on the same wickedness she had donned earlier. "It'll be something you can brag about to your friends. I know that I can't wait to tell all _my_ buddies about you two. I mean, two Lunars want to be with _us_? What an honor."

"It's not an _honor_ for us to be with Earthens," said Elara.

"Why don't you try getting a kiss from me and see if you still feel that way, gorgeous?" he said arrogantly.

Elara took the bait. She released the glamour from his head to his shoulders, but sadly not his arms. She forced his arm around her waist and stared up at him, waiting. Thorne bent his neck down and paused in front of her long enough to build up tension between them. He brushed his lips against hers lightly, inviting the conversation to start, and then began to kiss her with as much passion as he could muster. It felt foreign, like an invasion to his body, even though he had chosen to do this. He knew he was taking the lesser of two evils, doing what he had to do, but every part of it was so wrong. He kept his pretense up though, kissing her the way he knew women liked to be kissed. Thorne realized that it was the first time he had kissed someone in this manner since he'd been put in jail. The thought made him angrier—that these Lunars had stolen this moment from him—and he channeled his anger into the kiss, making her believe it was hunger he felt rather than hate. And from the way she was responding, he was more than confident that he was an excellent actor.

When he pulled back, he lingered until she opened her eyes, and stayed eye-level. Then he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Still convinced you want to glamour me?" He straightened, arms still at his sides. Fay, luckily, had not kissed Kai, but she was staring at both Thorne and Elara, calculating. "I think we could have so much more fun together if you would both just let us do what we do best."

"What about this one?" asked Fay. "Does he speak?"

Kai visibly relaxed as she released some of her hold on him. "Of course," he cooed. Then he gave her the million univ smile that he was so famous for. "Let us show you a good time." Thorne mentally high-fived him.

Fay looked placated and ran her fingers through Kai's hair again. "I love your smile," she said, "and I especially love your lips. Are you going to show me how you kiss too?"

Kai smiled again. "Of course, and then some. I've never had the pleasure of loving a Lunar before."

"Interesting," said Fay, "because you look an awful lot like the Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth."

Thorne expected him to panic, but Kai's face was a cool mask of confidence. "Wow, Fay, you flatter me." Kai glanced at Thorne, who had never seen him look so cocky before. "I've heard he's one of the most desired men on Earth. Women _flock_ to him."

" _I'm_ definitely jealous of him," Thorne confirmed, playing along. "Imagine how many girls he could get just by pretending." He was finally glad the majority of his body was still being held in place by Elara, because he had the urge to squirm and fidget. He noticed a flash of jealousy in Elara's eyes, though.

"He's not _that_ good looking," she said to her friend.

"He is too," Fay shot back.

"We could ask your Queen if you want," Kai suggested, puffing up his chest. "I've heard she's got a thing for the Emperor and I've also heard he's missing. Maybe she needs a replacement." He chuckled.

"You and the Lunar Queen, can you _imagine_?" Thorne goaded.

"No," hissed Fay, "you're _mine_." She crushed her lips to Kai's. He looked startled for a moment, but shut his eyes quickly as he, too, pretended to lose himself in the kiss. Thorne didn't have time to think before Elara's lips were back on his again. This time, he could feel _her_ anger. If Thorne weren't so happy that they had just gotten away with passing off Kai as an Emperor look-alike, he would have almost been irritated that she suddenly thought he was the lesser prize.

She pulled back quickly, and yanked Fay away from Kai. "I need to speak with you," she said.

The girls huddled together while Thorne and Kai stood firm, still rooted to the ground.

"So...that was disgusting," said Kai grimly.

"Eyes on the prize, Kai," said Thorne sharply. It was better than acknowledging how much he was hating every second of this as well. He hesitated before calling out, "Come on, ladies, let's do this naturally...no glamour. Just real love!"

The girls didn't look up, but Kai shot him a glare. " _Love_?"

" _I said_ , take my cues," he shot back.

Elara and Fay parted from their huddle. Like animals stalking their prey, they approached the two of them again.

Fay spoke this time, which surprised Thorne. "Real love?" she snorted. "We're Lunar. We don't believe in such trivial things."

"Interesting," said Thorne. "Because a few minutes ago your friend didn't believe that a kiss from an Earthen without glamour could be better than a forced kiss." He tried to cross his arms, forgetting they were still glued at his side. He settled for a shrug of his shoulders. "I think I certainly proved her wrong. Didn't I, gorgeous?" He smiled seductively at Elara, who stayed silent.

Finally, another one of her wicked grins graced her face. "Well, if you're so confident in your abilities then...let's test that theory."

"Alright," he said.

"Fay and I would like you to dance," she said.

"I beg your pardon?" spluttered Kai, eyes wide.

"C'mon man, don't be so modest," said Thorne to Kai, wanting to kick him in the shins. "We love dancing." _Love_ was the overestatement of the year. At least he knew a thing or two about dancing, though. "We'll need our bodies, though." His body released, and he let out a sigh, shaking out his arms. "That's better."

Kai and Thorne exchange a look before turning to Elara and Fay. Fay was tapping her foot.

"Maybe," said Kai, "this isn't the best spot for this."

"Excellent point, my friend," said Thorne. "Shall we move this upstairs, then?"

He plastered on another smile as he waited for them to make a decision. They needed the girls separate. It was their only chance. If they stayed down here, out in the open, they'd stay defenseless. It'd be easier to take one of them by surprise if they were separated. At least, that was what they had decided in the bathroom. Now there was just one thing getting in their way: a stupid dance.

"We'll lead you up there," said Elara.

The girls took control of their bodies again as they climbed the stairs that led to—big surprise—the bedrooms. They were walked into the larger one, were halted, and the girls took a seat on the bed. Thorne began to count in his mind so that he wouldn't say something sarcastic, and he almost didn't make it to ten.

Whoever was glamouring him released his body, and Thorne suppressed the urge to run with all his might. He knew it was useless. He wouldn't make it three steps before he was glamoured again, and then it was over. They would never win the girls' trust. He turned to Kai as the girls began selecting music from an invisiscreen.

"I can't do this," said Kai. His face was burning red. "Just kill me, Thorne. Make it quick."

"Do you want them to glamour you?" Thorne hissed.

"No," Kai hissed back.

"Well then start acting like you don't need it to get into this."

Kai groaned. "I need the glamour. Desperately. This is a nightmare. I'm dreaming and when I wake up I'll still be on the Rampion with Cinder and—"

"Whatcha talking about, boys?" asked Elara.

Thorne smiled sweetly. "Just about how lucky we are."

Elara smiled too. Fay said something to the invisiscreen and there it was: a somewhat upbeat, _very_ sultry song. Thorne did not dare look at Kai. Not usually one to be embarrassed, he did share Kai's sentiments. This was _not_ an activity he would ever have chosen to partake in with the Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth.

Or anyone, for that matter.

But he needed to be confident. Needed to be charming. Needed to be sexy.

All the things that Captain Carswell Thorne knew he was. Why, then, was it so hard to fake it now? It was probably just because Kai was killing the mood.

Not taking his eyes off the girls, Thorne began to move. Slowly, rhythmically. Always smiling in the way he knew that women liked.

Never. Looking. At. Kai.

He could do this. He could win them over. He would show them what sexy _really_ was.

Suddenly, his hand moved to undo a button on his shirt of its own accord. Thorne stared at Elara, who was surely nothing more than an evil vixen, he decided. "Ladies, I can undress myself."

Elara snickered. "You are undressing yourself."

Thorne's hand undid another button. He decided on a sideways grin and just said, "Watch me, gorgeous."

He moved his hands precisely, delaying each remaining button in a way that he hoped was slow and torturous as he continued to dance to the music. His button-up shirt was on the floor far too quickly for his liking, though. He knew he had to act before things got even more out of hand, so he gestured for Elara. "Dance with me."

To his surprise, she obliged. Her hands moved all over him as they swayed to the music together. Whenever Thorne turned in a direction that faced Kai, he had to close his eyes, or he knew he would lose his nerve. But whatever Kai was doing seemed to be working, because he was hearing no complaints from Fay, who had also gotten up off the bed. Before Elara's hands could roam any further, he brought her lips into another passionate kiss.

As they kissed, he danced her over to the bed, and threw her down on top of it. She laughed, delighted, and Thorne started to climb up to reach her. Elara stopped him with a hand to his chest. "Fay, leave."

A few shuffling of feet and a door slam later, Thorne was relieved when they were finally alone. Elara pulled him down on top of her by his belt loops, and it was only then that Thorne really began to panic on the inside. He had needed it to get to this point, but it was still too early to take her by surprise. He would have to delay this situation as much as he could. He closed his eyes and tried to separate his mind from his body as he began to kiss Elara's neck. Slowly, she began to relax. When he went back to her mouth, he saw that she had finally closed her eyes and seemed to be enjoying herself.

But then she made to take off her shirt, and Thorne decided he didn't care if it hadn't been enough time yet, because he just couldn't pretend anymore.

"Wait," he breathed, placing another kiss on her lips as he hid the fist he made with his right hand. "There's something missing, gorgeous."

"Oooh," she said, "what?"

He punched her in the face. When she didn't stir, he muttered, "The girl I'm in love with."

Thorne wiped his brow, disgusted with himself. He retrieved his shirt from the floor and pulled it on. Thankfully it hadn't gone any further. He undid some pillowcases and tied them around Elara's legs and arms, and for good measure, gagged her. If she woke up before he could collect Kai, at least she wouldn't be able to warn Fay.

He tiptoed out of the room and inched his way to the other bedroom. He heard some breathing and moving and murmuring, so he waited. And waited. Finally, he heard silence. When he opened the door, Kai was sitting on the floor, his knees pressed into his chest. He was only wearing boxers.

"Put some clothes on," said Thorne, grimacing. "What are you doing down there?"

Kai covered his face with his hands. "I couldn't be in that bed anymore."

Thorne nodded, but knew there was nothing he could say to make him feel better, because he felt exactly the same way. So instead of talking, Thorne tied up Fay in a similar fashion to Elara while Kai put his clothes back on.

They rushed down the stairs as quickly as possible, not sure how long the girls would be out. They didn't even know how far bioelectricity waves stretched, so there was no way they were going to take any chances and linger longer than they had to. They grabbed a few things from the first floor, and bolted out the door before stopping just as quickly.

Perhaps running down a Lunar street after just having escaped from Lunars was not the best strategy.

"Still on for Plan B?" asked Kai as both of them ran back inside.

"Just took us a little longer than expected," said Thorne.

Kai described the street to him with more detail than his own eyes could offer, and a slow smile spread over his face when he learned that each of these Lunar houses had a garage.

"I say we claim a hover," said Thorne.

"You mean steal one?" asked Kai. "You really think we can get away with that?"

Thorne smirked. "Don't insult me, Emperor. If I can steal a cargo ship from the American Republic and then manage to escape capture for months on end, I think I can handle a little hovercraft."

Eyes lighting up, Kai nodded enthusiastically. "Let's do this."

"Wait," said Thorne, "I'm still going to need some of your eyesight during the flight."

"As long as it doesn't involve us kissing any more Lunars, I'm up for anything," said Kai.

Thorne smirked. "Well, I hope there will still be one more Lunar for each of us."

"They'd be pretty lucky," said Kai, grinning.

"You're telling me," said Thorne. "I've heard the Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth has mad seduction skills."

"Stars, if you think he has skills, then wait until you hear about Captain Carswell Thorne." He whistled.

Thorne laughed and clapped Kai on the back. "You can tell me all about him once we steal this hover."


	25. Chapter 25

Pulling her arms behind her back, Iko tried to imagine that her robotic limbs were elongating with each second that she held the stretch. The exercise routines that Cress had left for her were amusing to watch, but none of them had made her sweat or gasp for air the way it did for the humans performing the movements. She figured that she might thank the designers of this body someday when she would need to run for kilometers without stopping to catch her breath, but today it did nothing but make her feel less human than ever.

Plus, she knew she was putting off the inevitable. Her internal processor had been calculating probabilities all day, and it was getting harder to ignore the facts.

She switched off the vid and sat down in the co-pilot seat. It somehow felt wrong to sit in Captain Thorne's chair, even if he had dubbed her the interim Captain of the Rampion in his absence. Her friends had been gone for almost four days without any communication back to the ship. She had been unable to establish a connection with Cinder, despite hundreds of attempts. After years of having a constant link with her, the absence of her netlink address only made Iko's internal processor whir with even more calculations.

Iko and Darla had both tried many different ways of searching for Cinder, but Iko's transmissions never went through. Darla postulated that the net connectivity on Luna was different from that on Earth, and hacking just wasn't part of either of their programming, so they had no way to infiltrate the Lunar net. Cinder had said that she would contact her with further instructions, but she hadn't.

Emperor Kai and Cinder had left very specific instructions for her: if something went terribly wrong, Iko was responsible for getting those recordings to Earth. Someone had to know that Cinder was Princess Selene, and that they were trying to overthrow Queen Levana before she took complete control of Earth. Too much time had passed without any instructions, according to her calculations. The Rampion couldn't stay in space forever either.

Iko didn't want to go anywhere without her friends, though—especially not Earth. The news of destruction from Levana's soldiers had taken over the newsfeeds. At first, Iko had been mesmerized by everything she saw. Thousands more people had died, despite the Earthen Union mobilizing its armies—but at least they were beginning to fight back. Then, when she read one particular ticker on the bottom of her screen claiming atrocious things about Kai and Cinder, she had been disgusted and shut off the traitorous feed. Even her own android speculation programming never came to the conclusion that Cinder and Kai were any of the things mentioned on the news.

She yanked on one of her braids before throwing all her hair back into a ponytail, mimicking the way Cinder used to fidget with her own hair. "Darla, do you read fourteen hours to New Beijing as well?"

"Confirmed, Iko." Darla's cool, airy voice was slightly comforting to Iko, making her feel like she wasn't completely abandoned.

"Start the trajectory," said Iko.

"If we leave the orbit that Master's friend left for us, we will risk detection."

Cress _had_ been very specific about where to fly in order for the satellites not to pick up on them, but there was no way for her to complete her mission while staying in this orbit. Emperor Kai had left the contact information for Konn Torin's portscreen, but there was no way of guaranteeing that he would actually open or believe the files she could send him. Plus, the recordings were locked, which complicated everything. Iko and Darla would have to go find him, a thought that made the corners of her lips curl into a pout. "I know," she said.

During the first hour of flight, Iko walked aimlessly around the Rampion. She found that letting out some of her anger by punching pillows in the abandoned bedrooms made her feel slightly better. And although she was going to Earth, she would not accept that Cinder or Kai or the Captain or _anyone_ had died. They didn't just need those recordings delivered—they just needed her help.

She would complete her mission and somehow save them all.

* * *

"I expected palm trees and red carpets," said Iko, brow drawn in a show of severe disappointment. Her sarcasm was lost on Darla as usual.

Though she had sent a comm to Konn Torin explaining that she had a message from Emperor Kaito as soon as military ships had started following them, the Rampion—now landed—was surrounded by hundreds of men all bearing the Eastern Commonwealth military insignia. She shouldn't have expected any less, she supposed. The last time she had seen Konn Torin, he had been in a terrible mood.

"Instructions, Iko?" asked Darla.

Iko had three options. She could stay inside the spaceship until the military personnel broke in, she could walk outside with her head held high, or she could attempt to flee again. But after the very rocky landing that she had been completely unprepared for (she blamed Captain Thorne for not teaching her enough about the cockpit controls before he left), the last option was out. And staying inside the spaceship defeated the purpose of what she had come here to do. What she had to do for Cinder and Kai.

Reluctantly, Iko told Darla, "Open the doors."

Men swarmed them almost immediately, their guns pointed at her beautiful, beautiful body. She shrieked and raised her hands in the air like she had seen in the dramas. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot! I have a message from Emperor Kaito! I have a—"

Two men jumped on her, and she let out a scream as they slammed her into the ground. She continued to yell until she was cuffed and forced to sit up. The men ran around her with their guns held up, and Iko knew exactly who they were looking for. Cuffed on the ground, she smirked that they would find nothing and no one. They had escaped Kai's military enough times that the military should know better by now.

"Where are they?" one of the men demanded, his gun pointed at her chest as she stared up at him from the floor.

"I have a message from Emperor Kaito for Konn Torin," she said. "He knows me."

He pursed his lips. "Name."

"Iko," she said. He raised his eyebrows, as if waiting for more. "Just Iko," she said.

A few of the men exited the Rampion, speaking into their ports. The rest of them remained with their eyes and guns trained on her, making Iko huff. As if _she_ looked dangerous. But as long as they didn't ruin any part of her new body or try to send her to a reprogramming center, she would cooperate.

One of the men's ports pinged, and he glanced down. "The Royal Advisor doesn't know anyone by your name."

"I have a vid message for Konn Torin. It is set with a passcode by Emperor Kai, one which he says only his royal advisor will be able to open. His Majesty and I are _friends_ ," she said proudly.

The men glanced at each other and spoke quietly amongst themselves. Iko tried to adjust her audio interface so she could hear them better, but their voices were still muffled. When they turned back to her, she smiled as sweetly as possible. They grabbed her roughly anyway.

* * *

Four hours later, after incredibly rude and inconsiderate treatment, Konn Torin finally appeared outside of her jail cell.

"You," he said, a raised eyebrow crinkling his forehead.

"You remember!" said Iko happily. So she _had_ made an impression. "It's so nice to see you again."

He frowned. "Where is Emperor Kaito?"

Iko glanced around at the guards that surrounded him. "His Majesty wanted me to deliver a message to you under specific circumstances. But I can't reveal this message with all these guards around. And, frankly, I'd prefer a more comfortable place to sit." She wrinkled her nose at the cell.

" _Where is Emperor Kaito_?" Torin growled.

Iko folded her arms. "I'm not saying anything until the guards are gone."

Torin clenched his fists, and gestured to the guards. "Leave us."

"Sir?"

"I said, leave us."

The guards shuffled away.

"You know that I could escape any time," she said. "Cinder was able to do it with just two robotic limbs. Imagine what all of mine can do." It was the first time she felt proud to be an escort droid instead of just a weak human.

Konn Torin, however, did not look impressed. "The message?" he asked.

"It requires a passcode to make sure that you are who you say you are."

"I'm done playing games with you," he said, his voice strained.

"His Majesty set the passcode," she said. Why was he being so difficult?

Now it was Torin who folded his arms. "Did he now?"

"Yes," she said, "A little over four days ago." She slumped against the bars that separated them. "The last time that I saw him," she added.

"Is he okay?" said Torin, worry creasing his brow.

"Cinder and Kai are in trouble," she wailed, throwing her arms around the cell bars. He flinched, but she continued to moan. "We have to help them."

"Fine, fine," said Torin. "How do I open the message?"

Iko looked up at him. "You have to answer a question."

"Let's hear it," he muttered.

She glanced past him and around the corridor again, making sure that they were completely alone. "Who is Kai looking for?" she whispered.

Torin's body went rigid. He exhaled, adjusted his collar, and then pursed his lips. "Princess Selene."

The internal lock on the messages she had stored in her processor clicked open. But as she projected the first part of the message with the Emperor speaking, Torin waved his hands. "Shut it off, shut it off!"

Iko paused the vid. "Sir?"

"You're right," he said gruffly, "let's move somewhere…more comfortable."

* * *

Konn Torin sat in his office, the girl with the blue braids waiting somewhat impatiently for him to collect his thoughts. He had no words to offer her, though.

All the times that he had practically ridiculed Kai about his search for Princess Selene came back to torture him. If he weren't stuck as the temporary leader of the Eastern Commonwealth, he would probably submit his letter of resignation, because he was quite possibly the worst advisor in the history of Royal Advisors. He had advised against looking for Princess Selene _and_ against cavorting with Linh Cinder. Maybe if he had encouraged Kai on his search, then perhaps they would have found Linh Cinder long before she had made her official debut in front of Queen Levana. Maybe this entire mess could have been avoided.

And the Emperor—he was on _Luna_.

With Linh Cinder.

 _Who was really Princess Selene_.

Torin took a big, long sip of his drink, then downed the whole glass. With everything going on lately, he was turning to alcohol more frequently than usual to get him through the day. Well, at least he had done one thing right: he had allowed Linh Cinder—Princess Selene—to take Kai with her on the night of the Royal Wedding.

And now both the Emperor and the real heir to the Lunar throne were possibly in grave danger on Luna.

_Excellent._

"Do you have any other messages for me?" he finally asked. Iko shook her head. "No?" he confirmed. "Not going to give me a message about the fugitive that Cinder escaped with? Perhaps confirming that he's actually the secret love child of Queen Levana and President Vargas?" It was the strangest thing he could think of, and the thought made his mind spin, but at this point, anything was possible.

Iko brightened. "Emperor Kai said that you didn't have a sense of humor but I think you're rather funny."

Torin harrumphed.

"What are we going to do?" said Iko. "There has been no news that they have been killed, but they were supposed to communicate with me and they didn't. That's why I came."

He sorted through his muddled thoughts. In his message, Kai had encouraged the Earthen Union to unite against Queen Levana and help them to overthrow her. He had revealed her true identity and told them their plan to bring the wedding to Luna, but that if they were hearing the message then they had probably failed.

"We wait," said Torin.

"We can't!" the girl screeched.

"I didn't believe Kai when he told me that Linh Cinder was one of the most resourceful and resilient people he had ever met. They have certainly proven me wrong. Perhaps we should give her, and the Emperor for that matter, some much overdo credit. Maybe they need more time."

It was risky, waiting, all the while not knowing what had happened to them on Luna. Perhaps they were already under Levana's control. Still, Levana wanted to become Empress. Despite her military power, it would be easier to take over Earth with the marriage union she wanted, rather than a full-scale war. He knew that the death they were seeing now was nothing compared to what she was capable of unleashing on them—the other Union leaders knew it too. But Levana was a politician. A cruel, ruthless politician of course, but Torin had come to learn that she _did_ strategize every move. A full-scale war was not in her best interests as a politician, regardless of what she made them believe.

"And if that doesn't work, we go to Luna and attack Artemisia Palace," said Iko.

Torin rubbed his temples and eyed the girl again. "Perhaps. If we could get the rest of the Earthen Union to agree with that plan and mobilize enough military support. That is unlikely though, considering that we are hardly able to defend ourselves against attacks on our own planet."

Iko began to wail again, a sound that he had become quite accustomed to in the last hour of their interactions. He was looking forward to the day when his job didn't involve conversations with teenagers anymore. Or escort droids, for that matter. The Emperor had been very specific about how Iko was not to be dismissed or reprogrammed until Linh Cinder was able to come back to claim her.

"For now," he continued, "this information is useful as we strategize our next moves. Should His Majesty and Cinder—er, Selene—succeed and we receive word that the wedding ceremony will take place on Luna, we can better prepare a way to help infiltrate the wedding. If the ultimate goal is to overthrow Levana, then we can be of assistance."

They had to tread very carefully though. He would have to think long and hard about everything he had just learned before he revealed anything to anyone. And despite his worries, he believed that Kai was very much alive and fighting. The thought made him nearly burst with pride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, the teaser quotes from Winter were written by Marissa Meyer, not me!


	26. Chapter 26

The prolonged adrenaline rush of flying to Luna and escaping the collapsed tunnel was dissipating.

Guilty that she had taken someone's will hostage yet again for her own selfish purposes, Cinder filled the Lunar man with as many happy emotions and memories as possible, hoping that they would remain with him even when the glamour wore off. It was unlikely, but she decided not to think about that. They deposited him on a random street on the way to the manufacturing sector. Cinder told him that he was still on his rescue mission for those injured in the tunnel, so she urged him to go to the nearest hospital to seek help. Stella had dropped him off and she would be back with the hover later.

Now that Cinder was flying and Wolf was fake co-piloting, some residual panic was setting in. Cress, who had barely spoken from the back of the hover, pointed out that just like spaceships, most personal hovercrafts were also embedded with tracking devices. She could attempt to disable them, but it would take her much longer than their actual flight time, so it wasn't a convenient option. Wolf was in fight-mode, snarling even at the hovers that flew past them, and he made the executive decision for them to continue on to the safe house.

"We'll worry about the hover later," he said. "If my parents decide not to help us, we'll have bigger problems than that man tracking us." He turned his head suspiciously at a passing artificial cloud. "Better to have an escape mechanism as well. Though I suppose we could overpower them if it came to that."

"But…they're your parents."

"Cress," said Wolf, his voice a gruff whisper, "my parents would have every right to be ashamed of what I've become."

"Surely they miss you," she said.

"Not all parents care about their children," said Cinder.

Wolf sighed. "My parents did care about me once. I hope that they will at least pity us enough to offer refuge for one night. I'm trying to think of another plan. It's better than running around in the streets with a Shell."

Cress' expression sagged in Cinder's rearview mirror. She knew that Wolf wasn't purposely trying to make Cress feel bad, but unfortunately, he did have a point. There were advantages to Cress being a shell: she couldn't be controlled by the Lunar gift, which meant that she would have no trouble discerning the truth, even if Cinder and Wolf's minds betrayed them. However, there wasn't any way to disguise her, either. Cinder could try to make other Lunars think Cress was someone else, but in a crowd that would be particularly difficult. Someone would likely pick up on the fact that she emitted no bioelectricity waves.

Sometimes it was actually disconcerting that she couldn't feel Cress' bioelectricity. She'd only had her gift for a little while now, but she was now used to feeling how the energy around people moved. Though she'd never admit it out loud, sometimes it had served as a bit of respite on the Rampion. Knowing that someone was emitting particularly grumpy or sad bioelectricity made it easier to tiptoe around sensitive topics. With Cress, who practically wore her emotions as a shield, Cinder didn't have to guess much about how she was feeling. It was obvious that she was still miserable. More than once, especially during their long tunnel walk, Cinder had almost wished that she could just inject a fragment of hope into her mind to give her more determination to continue on—another fact she would never admit out loud to anyone. It was despicable. Still, the more she became familiar with her gift and the possibilities of glamour, it became easier to understand why Lunars would be uncomfortable with someone who they couldn't manipulate. Not that she would ever stoop that low, of course.

"We have an advantage having a Shell," she finally decided to say. She offered an encouraging smile to Cress, hoping she would see it in the mirror as well. "The logistics are just a bit more complicated."

"We'll see," said Wolf. Cinder gave him a sideways glare even as she steered the hovercroft to the left. "Didn't mean to offend you, Cress," he added.

Cress did not respond, only looked out the window. Cinder wondered what she was thinking about: being back on Luna, being a Shell on Luna, how Dr. Erland had given her up, or maybe all those things. Or maybe she was just thinking about Thorne.

It was a dangerous slope, thinking about Thorne, because Cinder had been there before too, when she had first thought that he had died on the satellite. Now that there was a strong possibility that both Thorne _and_ Kai were dead, injured, or in some other way incapacitated, it was a struggle for Cinder not to lose focus on Wolf's plan. Her plan. Their plan. They hadn't been able to do anything else. They had made the right choice. Thorne and Kai would have wanted them to keep going if the roles had been reversed.

This is what Wolf had told both of them. This is what she had told Cress. This is what she repeated to herself to keep herself going.

 _Because they were fine, e_ ven if believing that meant that she continued to have an internal battle with her probability calculator. No, cyborg programming instincts were not the same as her human instincts. She had fallen victim to that before. They were fine. She would not cave into her emotions until it was confirmed otherwise. And she would not let Cress see her crumble until then either.

Her thoughts turned back to the blinking GPS coordinates and small dot on the net map that informed her they were getting close to their target. So far, Luna had been different than what she'd expected. Maybe it was only a myth that Luna was supposed to be a paradise. Compared to the glittering city of Artemisia that she'd seen in images before, the sector that they were flying in was completely disappointing. The houses had a faded old tint to them, as if no one had bothered to repair or repaint them in years. She could see bright lights off in the distance, reflecting like mirrors from the domes that surrounded them. The streets were not crowded—in fact, Cinder wondered where everyone was. The skies barely had any traffic either. If she tried to forget that she was on Luna, Cinder could almost picture herself flying above one of the poorer neighborhoods on the outskirts of New Beijing.

Wherever they were, it wasn't a ritzy place. Cinder hadn't thought about poverty much before. Though she had worked tirelessly for Adri, she had always had food on the table, clothes, and of course, technology. If she were ever to be queen, she would probably need to start thinking about global issues more. Or, in this case, Lunar issues. Was all of Luna like this? Or was it only the sector that Wolf was from? For that matter, had all of the Lunar Operatives come from one sector or another?

"We're getting close."

Cinder reached out for Wolf's energy. His fight-mode was settling down, replaced with a different kind of anxiety. It was understandable that he was nervous—she was basking in nervousness too and she wasn't even about to face her estranged parents. She retracted from his mind quickly. It wasn't right of her to share this moment with him when he hadn't asked her too. She needed to get better at controlling the urge to fish around bioelectricity when it wasn't necessary. Cinder focused on slowing down the engine and circling down towards their destination.

"Park on the street by the house," said Wolf. He sat up and licked his lips as Cinder gripped the steering mechanism tighter and angled them slowly downward. She hated landing almost more than she hated take-off. Her net connectivity had not been working, so she was flying completely by the flight instructions she had downloaded for the Rampion's podship. It was…somewhat similar, but altogether still terrifying.

When they hit ground without any problems, Cinder exhaled shakily. "Good."

"You stay here," Wolf instructed.

"What? Absolutely not," said Cinder.

"It's too dangerous. Let me get a feel for the place first. Maybe—maybe they don't even live here anymore."

"It'll be—"

"No," he growled. "Stay here and glamour yourself into someone inconspicuous. Cress, stay hidden."

Cinder pouted slightly, Cress slumped down in her seat, and Wolf let out a deep breath.

* * *

_My street. My house. My home. My family._

The old gray building with the blue door hadn't changed much, though the paint was deteriorating. Ze'ev understood on principle why Queen Levana had never allowed them to see their families again, and in this very moment, he was glad of it. Knowing that he would never see them again had given him the clean break necessary to transition into his new life.

Now, faced with his old house in front of him, it was nearly impossible to keep walking. Facing his parents was going to be worse than killing Ran. In fact, he was going to have to tell his parents that he had killed Ran. That would be the first thing they would ask, of course, if they even acknowledged him. Had he taken care of his little brother? Had he watched out for him?

 _No_ , he would say, _I didn't._ And then what excuses could he offer? Ran had chosen his own path. Ran had told Z to back off even from the first day. Ran had enjoyed killing. Ran had become a monster.

Who was he kidding? _He_ was a monster.

His parents would never forgive him for what he had done to so many people. Done to Ran.

Z realized that he was just standing in front of the door, staring at it dumbly. He glanced back at the hover, now silent, and saw only a middle-aged woman with long, ebony hair nodding in his direction. If he didn't knock on the door soon, Cinder would probably come after him, and he couldn't have that. They had a job to do. _He_ had a job to do.

And this task he needed to do alone.

Reaching out slowly, he rapped three times on the pale blue door. He pulled his sleeve down as far as it would go, but his LSOP tattoo was still glaringly obvious on his arm. He wiped at his clothes as well, but it was pretty useless. The tunnel collapse had left him dirty and somewhat dusty-looking. Then he waited, listening with his senses for life on the other side of the door.

It was unlikely that they had moved. He hadn't told Cinder, but his family had never had much money to start out with. Even with two less mouths to feed, his parents would probably never have earned enough money to afford a new place to live. Then again, the families of the operatives were supposed to be compensated for losing their children. Had it been much? Maybe it had been enough money that they had even encouraged Ran to volunteer so they could earn more. Doubtful, from what he remembered of his parents. But that was long ago; who knew how time had changed them too.

His heart rate accelerated as a pad of footsteps trotted to the door. Inhaling sharply and then letting the breath out just as quickly, he squeezed his fists together and stood up straighter. The door swung open and—

His mother jumped back at the sight of him. Her hair was thinner, she was decidedly plumper, and age was beginning to show on her skin, but it was her. No glamour, just as he remembered her. And she was terrified.

He held up his hands, meaning no harm, but his mother held up her own. "Please, I haven't done anything," she said, backing into the room and nearly stumbling over the old rocking chair that hadn't moved in the last eleven years. She kept her eyes down, cowering in fear as Ze'ev crossed the threshold slowly. "I'll— _please_ —" Her voice was urgent, unstable.

If she only looked up, his mother would see that his body was shaking just as much as hers. "M-mom." When she still didn't look up, Ze'ev spoke louder and with more clarity. "Mom. It's—me. Ze'ev."

He backed away respectfully, shutting the door behind him so he was leaning against it, and gave his mother time to process what he had said. Slowly, her shaky hands lowered and she peered up at him. More flickers of terror went over her face, making him cringe.

"This, this…a glamour?" she whispered.

"No. It's me. I'm not going to hurt you."

His mother's lower lip was trembling now. "Z-Ze'ev?"

"Yes."

"But how—"

"I'm not being controlled by a Thaumaturge," he said, as if this was just what his mother wanted him to say. "I'm not dangerous unless they're controlling me. I'm different." He was babbling now. "I can resist my urges."

She took a step towards him and stared, more emotion filling her, but not as much fear as before.

"I know I must look horrible to you. I know you have every right to be afraid of me, even despise me. What I am, it's not natural. I know. And I'm sorry for coming like this. I wish I could have warned you. But I—"

"You're all grown up," she said.

"I'm twenty-three."

His mother let out a breath. "I know."

It was hard to contain his anxiety much longer. He needed to move his feet around, to pace, to jump around—anything. But he was afraid to move, too afraid to startle her again. What would she do? Would she call the Lunar guards? Report him? Pretend to be calm only to run away screaming? "I escaped them. I'm not with them. I need your help. I—"

"Ze'ev," she said again. "Z. I never thought I'd see you again."

"Me neither." Now _his_ voice was cracking.

Hesitantly, his mother reached out a hand towards him. "Can I…?"

Z swallowed. "Yes."

She ran her fingers along his scars, and then cupped one cheek with her hand. "Is it dangerous to hug you?" she whispered.

It was the last thing he was expecting. Once over the initial shock, a touch of curiosity made a little sense even to him. But an embrace? As though she still considered him her son?

"No, Mom."

Z didn't know that he could cry anymore. He hadn't cried in eleven years—not even when Scarlet had been taken. He only howled out of despair now. But there was something so _human_ about being in his mother's arms that made him break down even more than she did. Though he was so much bigger, taller, and stronger than her, she held him more than he held her. They cried together for so many things: the memories they'd shared, their broken family, the years they had lost, their reunion.

When they had both calmed down, his mother pulled away from him. "Your father's still at work. He'll be home before the curfew though."

"Will he want to see me?"

She smiled. "I think so, Z."

"What time is the curfew?"

"In one hour."

Z straightened. "I have two friends with me—not operatives. We need a place to stay. Can we sleep here tonight?"

His mother looked down with regret. "We changed your old room. With you and Ran gone, there wasn't any need for extra beds."

"We don't need much," he said quickly. "We're just not supposed to be on the streets. Can you help us?" She hesitated before nodding. "One is a Shell," he added.

Her eyes widened. "Ze'ev, how can this be? Shells are not permitted on Luna. This hasn't changed."

"It's a long story. One that I would be happy to tell you, but for now, we need to get to a safe spot. But you'll be endangering yourself by being in our presence, do you understand? Just say no and I'll leave you alone again."

"No," she said. "I don't want you to leave. I'll try to be understanding."

"No one can know that we're here, Mom."

Another nod.

"No one can know that you're housing a Shell or an operative."

"Understood—but you'll need to do some explaining."

It only took one more look into his mother's green eyes before he decided that he would trust her today. Maybe not with the whole truth of everything, but enough to at least spend one night here. He would not reveal Cinder's identity of course, but maybe his mother and father would at least keep them safe. The swirl of emotions and uncertainties still hindering his ability to think completely objectively, he headed outside nonetheless.

* * *

It was the longest time she had ever held up a glamour for herself. She was growing accustomed to glamouring other people, and she'd worked on covering up her human hand several times, but after just a few hours in the Kesley house, Cinder's brain was getting tired. It was tiring to constantly pretend to be someone else, and she didn't know how Levana did it. Since she couldn't see herself, it was only Wolf's assurance that helped her believe her glamour was convincing. She had lowered her age a bit from her initial glamour in the hover. Now she was around Wolf's age, and took on Iko's appearance with dark skin and blue braids. In a way, it was her homage for leaving her friend behind.

The story they had told Wolf's parents was that he had left his role as a Lunar Operative a few months ago because he had met Cress, an escaped Shell who needed help. Cress told them about how Shells weren't killed at all, but used for their blood and kept hidden from society. Wolf's parents had softened at that knowledge, perhaps in shared recognition of how awful it was to take a child away from her parents. They mentioned that they'd had friends when they were younger whose children had been Shells, and that they had been through much grief.

Wolf—whom they called Ze'ev—continued to say that they had both run away with Cinder—whom they called Iko—because she had discovered the truth about Shells and would have risked her life had she stayed at home. Wolf admitted that he had never liked being an operative, and so the three of them became an unlikely set. They did not mention Thorne or Kai, though Cinder did inquire whether anyone else had stopped by recently looking for them. Sadly, the answer was no.

Cinder had the sneaking suspicion that his parents thought Wolf and Cress might be a couple, because they often shared brief but meaningful glances between them whenever they thought no one was looking. The idea of Wolf and Cress together made Cinder nearly lose her glamour. It made sense, though, she supposed, for parents to think that their child had deserted for love, rather than just being a traitor to the crown. Though they listened patiently to his stories about his time with the Queen's army, it was clear that they weren't excited about hearing them—especially when Wolf confessed that he had killed his brother.

Cinder and Cress hadn't known this, and they had excused themselves to another room while the three of them spoke privately. Cress had warmed up slightly since arriving at the Kesley residence, so the two of them spent time together skirting any important issues and instead made small talk about life on Luna. Eventually, tired and winding down from nerves, they called down the hallway to see if they could be excused to go to sleep.

The three Kesleys emerged from the kitchen, somber. His parents were full of grief; Cinder could feel it pulsating off of them. She didn't know what to say, nor whether it was her place to say anything, so she just kept quiet.

"Is it okay if Wolf sleeps with us?" asked Cress. They had discussed this earlier; one of them would always need to stay awake to make sure that his parents didn't see Cinder without her glamour while she slept.

The look between Wolf's parents was so unmistakable that she doubted even Wolf missed it that time. He stiffened, and Cinder suppressed a snort again. She knew who would get a kick out of this situation.

"It'll have to be that way," said Wolf's father. A tall man himself, though much skinnier than Wolf, Cinder could easily see the resemblance, even with all of Wolf's scars. "We don't have enough room for you to have a bed, let alone your own rooms."

"We don't mind at all, Dad," said Wolf. He gestured at Cinder and Cress. "I'll lead the way."

Wolf's old room was tiny, and a worn couch sat in the corner, along with a small netscreen on top of a table. Wolf, exhaling, ran his hands through his hair. Cinder half-expected him to say something to them, but he simply walked to the table and pushed it out of the way. His mother showed up shortly thereafter and offered some blankets and pillows to them. After their experience in the tunnel, it was practically a luxury, so despite her apologies, no one was complaining. She did insist that Ze'ev at least wash up before bed, though, to which he just rolled his eyes.

The three of them did need a shower, though, as the soot from the tunnel cave-in was now practically a part of their skin. They'd need to find new clothes too—but that could wait until morning.

Cress curled up with her pillow and blanket in the corner almost immediately. "I'll play around with the netscreen during my shift," she said, before turning away from the two of them.

Cinder and Wolf exchanged a brief look before Wolf shrugged and headed to the bathroom. Cinder decided that she could keep watch first, and fixed her eyes on the doorway protectively.

When Wolf came back to the room, Cinder was pleased to no longer be alone with her thoughts. She had too many things going through her mind, and she wanted desperately to be distracted. She also wanted to believe that the Kesley family meant them no harm, but it had all seemed too simple. Luna was a dangerous place for her to be, and who was to say that his parents hadn't already commed an authority figure? They were risking a lot, being here.

The Kesleys joined them again, surprising all three of them. Wolf's father nodded to his wife before clasping his hands together. "We've thought about what you said, and we think we have a way to help you."

"Yes," said his mom, "we have some people we would like you to meet."

"But," said Cress, panic emanating from her voice. "I'm a Shell! I can't meet anyone. They'll turn me over, I—"

"Not to worry," she said, calm and placating. "I think these people will understand."


	27. Chapter 27

The night dragged on, the need for sleep not strong enough to overcome her worries. Wolf's parents appeared friendly enough, but Lunars were gifted in deception of appearance. They were too friendly, in Cinder's opinion. It all just been too easy, hadn't it? Or was it just her upbringing that made her automatically suspicious of people that tried to be nice to her?

How normal was it really for parents of two genetically modified lupine soldiers to welcome back one of their sons with open arms? Not even Wolf himself, who repeatedly said that he just didn't want to talk about it, had slept when it was his turn. Now, on guard duty, he paced restlessly instead, the soft _pat pat_ of his feet against the wood floor agitating her already anxious thoughts.

"Cinder?"

Goosebumps prickled her human skin. In the dark, without any bioelectricity to announce her presence, Cress' face was like an apparition paying a moonlight visit. Only there was no moonlight outside to shine on her face, because they were _on_ the moon. Cinder needed to get a grip—barely a few months had passed since she even knew she had bioelectricity, let alone learned to recognize it. She'd survived her teenage years just fine with regular humans surrounding her. Cress was no different.

She blinked at the girl through the dark room. "I'm awake," she whispered.

"I can obviously hear you both too, so there's no need to whisper."

Cinder reckoned that Wolf would be able to hear them even if he was standing outside the house, not hovering above them, but she didn't bother pointing out that fact.

"I'm whispering because of _them_ ," said Cress. "I can't sleep, and it looks like none of you can either. Maybe this is a good time for me to start playing with the netscreen." She sat up, pushing the blanket off of her, but Cinder still thought she looked like a ghost. "I should have checked the hover for a tracking system before now," she mumbled. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry," said Cinder. "If someone knew where we were, they'd probably be here by now, wouldn't they?"

"I'm not sure," said Cress.

She stood up, but Wolf reached for her. "Don't turn on the light. I'll sit in front of the doorway so the glare from the netscreen doesn't shine through the door. I think we're okay, though. I haven't heard either of them get up, not even to go to the bathroom."

Cinder sat up too, feeling useless. The Kesleys could have used their portscreens, though, to alert the authorities, to contact news anchors—anything. Choosing not to mention it, she said, "Can I watch you work, Cress? I need a distraction."

It only took Cress about ten minutes to convert a regular netscreen display into five small boxes, each with coding scrolling up as her fingers flew with commands. Some of the time, a box was replaced with a map or a blueprint, and other times with calculations and coordinates. It made Cinder wonder what kind of people had worked on her own cyborg programming, and how differently it actually was from what Cress was doing now.

"I decided not to strip the tracker completely," said Cress, after an intense silence had enveloped the room for far too long. "Instead, I diverted the signal to another ship's tracker. That way, it won't look like this medical hover completely disappeared off the radar. It now looks like it's parked somewhere near one of the hospitals."

Cinder propped her elbow on the table next to Cress and pointed at a window box in the corner of the screen that had never changed. "What's that one?"

"Oh. I'm trying to figure out why I can't access the Lunar net. I know it runs on a different frequency than the Earthen net, but it's been a while since I took any interest in Lunar news so I'm rusty." Cinder straightened and nodded at Wolf, who was also listening intently from where he crouched by the door. "But I think it might just be this netscreen's privileges—or lack thereof," Cress continued. "From what I'm understanding of the firewall, it'll take a more advanced processor before we can get any more information on what's been happening at the palace."

"But you were able to do it on the Rampion," said Wolf.

Cress sighed, almost dreamily. "That was a great ship with a lot of power."

Cinder shook her head, making a mental note to tell Thorne that comment when she saw him again—she _would_ see him again. "We'll just have to find a way to get you better access, then."

"By tomorrow morning, I should know what specs I need," said Cress. "I'll keep working on it."

"You should both sleep," said Wolf.

"We should all sleep," said Cinder. "But can we do that when we don't have a plan?"

"My parents said they want us to meet some other people tomorrow, so that has to be the plan right now unless we want to risk leaving. I think we should give them a chance. Maybe they can help us."

Cinder bit her lip. "I know this is…personal…for you. Can you think objectively, Wolf? Are you sure we can trust them?"

"What other choice do we have right now? We don't have the Emperor anymore to use as bait."

 _Bait_ wasn't the term that Cinder would have used. More like bargaining chip, really. They didn't have anything to offer Levana as a distraction if Kai wasn't with them. And could they go about convincing Lunars to stand behind Cinder if her master plan involving the Emperor suddenly included no Emperor? She pulled at her ponytail.

Nothing had gone as planned. Nothing.

* * *

Morning came, groggy and unwelcome and paralyzing with the prospect of another unknown day.

Wolf's mother knocked twice, but remained outside until he opened the door for her. He greeted his mother with a sheepish smile. "I don't remember you waking up so early."

She smiled sadly. "Things have changed a lot since you left us, Z. Come now, let's get you some breakfast. We don't have much, but I would imagine that you must be very hungry in your…modified state." She reddened, but Cinder saw that it went away quickly—almost too quickly. Was it a glamour?

Cinder stood up, exhausted, and reached her hand out for Cress, who struggled up from the ground. She had worked most of the night, but managed to get at least an hour of sleep this morning. Since Wolf had been the only one to take a shower yesterday, and Cinder was able to disguise how dirty she looked with her glamour, Cress was a sight to behold compared to the rest of them: stained clothes, rumpled hair, ashen face, and now dark circles under eyes. Cinder had tried to think of how tired eyes would look on Iko's escort droid body and had added that to her glamour so she would at least look sleepy to the Kesleys.

"Maybe you girls want to freshen up as well?" said Wolf's mother, though her eyes stayed pinned on Cress.

"Thank you, Kesley-jiĕ," said Cinder, bowing, before immediately feeling foolish and ignorant. She was supposed to be a Lunar living on Luna, not a girl from the Eastern Commonwealth. Surely Lunar honorifics were different than how she had been raised. It was halting, too, to realize that this was the first time she had met an adult that she had any respect for at all since she had escaped New Beijing Prison, not counting Dr. Erland. It had just slipped out.

"Oh no," said Wolf's mom. "No formalities necessary. Eira is fine. Feel free to address Abbott by his first name as well."

"Sorry," she muttered. "It seems I've been watching too many newsfeeds on the royal wedding." It was a lame excuse, and she dared not look at her companions.

Eira waved her hand dismissively. "Aren't we all?"

"I'm certainly not," said Wolf, just as Cress murmured, "I know."

"Do you watch Earthen newsfeeds too, Cress?" asked Eira.

Sometimes." She blushed and looked to her shoes. "With Her Majesty planning to marry Emperor Katio and join our two nations, it's hard not to be interested."

"Exactly," said Eira. "Now, my dear, why don't you go first while Iko and Ze'ev have breakfast with me?" She ushered Cress towards the shower before anyone could protest. "I've left some clothes in there for you, though I'm afraid they might be too small." She shrugged. "We'll make do with what we can." Turning to Wolf, she added, "We always have."

Wolf slipped his hand behind the small of Cress' back and pushed her gently towards the bathroom. Cinder looked at it longingly, wishing her glamour of Iko hadn't included clean clothes. But her stomach rumbled too, and knowing that within the hour she would be clean and fed gave her the will to walk down the stairs. Maybe when no one was looking she could sneak to the closet and steal an outfit—any outfit—so that her clothes wouldn't remind her of the chaos in the tunnel anymore.

Abbott Kesley did not join them for breakfast, but Cinder was too out of her element to ask where he was. With the glamour still over her, it was taking a lot of effort to concentrate on the conversation that Wolf was having with his mother, and she became exceedingly worried that she would make another cultural blunder. She regretted having focused the majority of her glamour training on how to block other people or bend their will. She should have spent much more time disguising her cyborg hand, after all. Irked, she drank a juice that she didn't recognize, but didn't want to ask about for fear of giving away her identity again.

After breakfast, she didn't have time to converse with Wolf and Cress privately. When she finally got her own shower in—and managed to _borrow_ some clothes herself—she stared hard at herself in the mirror. The one place she would always be the same person, no matter how much of a show she put on for the others. From now on, it was possible that only Cress would be able to see her for who she really was. It was a sobering thought.

* * *

"What's taking so long?" Kai demanded. He glanced for the hundredth time at the house they had escaped from, just waiting for Faye and Elara to storm out. Or worse, for Royer to show up again. He was supposed to be keeping watch on the house they were actually stealing the hover from, but his instincts told him it was not the biggest threat.

"Breaking into a locked hover is not exactly the easiest thing in the world," said Thorne, jiggling what looked like a mini wrench in between a panel on the door. "And it's so quiet on this street that I'm afraid to yank on it forcefully."

The side of the hover they crouched behind obscured the two of them from plain sight if anyone looked out their windows—save the owners of the hover—but the eerie quiet that Throne alluded to worried him as well. Where were all the Lunars?

Not that he wanted to see any more Lunars, but it was the middle of the day and they had not seen or heard a soul. There had been no footsteps, no chatter, no humming of engines flying by. Maybe everyone was just at work. Kai had no idea what day of the week it was on Luna.

"Once we start the thrusters it's obviously going to make a lot of noise," he said, reaching to hold the corner of the panel while Thorne finagled the tool in deeper. It glittered against the sunlight just like he had come to expect from any material made on Luna. It matched the D-COMM chip in Nainsi perfectly.

"But then we'll be inside and can fly away, so it won't matter."

"Are you sure you're okay to fly? You didn't want to fly back when we were in the tunnel."

Thorne strained against the hover, his face turning a dark shade of red, and yanked as hard as he could. It creaked and finally gave way, the corner bent and mangled. "Perfect," said Thorne, standing up to slip his arm inside. "And I didn't want to fly in the tunnel because I was completely blind. I can see now."

"Partially," Kai muttered. Unable to fly himself, there was nothing he could do about their current predicament.

A distinct clang and—"Got it!"

Thorne threw the tool inside and climbed in, Kai scrambling in behind and shutting the door as quickly as possible. "It's not staying shut," he said, pulling on it again, just as a computerized voice wafted over them.

"Unauthorized entry. Unauthorized entry. Unauthorized entry."

Thorne reached over him and pulled on the door too, cursing when it didn't close from his attempts either. "I must have broken the door latch. Where is Cinder when you need her?"

Kai shoved Thorne back into the pilot seat. "Just get this thing off the ground."

Fumbling with some gadgets and gizmos, Thorne gritted his teeth. "It's locked me out. I'm not an authorized user."

"Where is _Cress_ when you need her?" said Kai.

"I'm just going to have to do this manually."

The security system's shrill voice was getting his nerves. "Unauthorized entry. Unauthorized entry. Unauthorized entry."

"I'll hold the door so it doesn't open, just take off somehow!" Kai released his seatbelt, and bound it through the door handle. Clicking it into place, it was clear it wasn't a perfect fit, and some give could cause him to come tumbling out of the hover at any point. He scooted closer to Thorne, who was squinting at all of the controls and pressing various buttons.

"Did I ever tell you I hate flying?" said Thorne. "I always wanted to be a captain, not a pilot."

"Tell me your life story some other time," said Kai, steadying himself as Thorne managed to start the engine, the security system still wailing.

"Amateurs," said Thorne, suddenly grinning. "No one would ever be able to break into the Rampion like this."

"The security system probably set off a tracker!"

"Obviously."

The hover roared to life, throwing both Kai and Thorne forward in their seats—Thorne against the seatbelt and Kai into the control panel. "I already have one head injury, Captain," he fumed.

"And—brace yourself," said Thorne, gripping the controllers as if his life depended on it. "That's right, come on girl, you've got this." He eased the controllers back, and they flew forward, Kai slamming back into his seat. "Sorry," muttered Thorne.

Kai rubbed his back with his free arm, the other still gripping the door in case the seatbelt didn't hold it. Then he remembered he was supposed to be Thorne's eyes. His heart plummeting, he turned wildly in every direction. "So far so good, the skies are looking clear!"

"They're a little blurry to me," said Thorne shakily. A bead of sweat had formed on his forehead.

"You can pull up."

They shot upward fast—faster than he'd ever felt a hover move, and he calmly reminded Thorne that they weren't in a _podship_ , a comment that he pointedly ignored.

When they leveled out, Thorne said, "Now where to?"

"You're joking."

"I'm not."

"You seriously don't remember where to go?"

Thorne turned his head. _"Did it look like I was able to memorize a map while we were on the Rampion?_ "

"Right. Sorry. Okay. No problem. I'll put it into the navigator— _watch out there's another hover_!"

Startled, Thorne dipped the hover to the left when he jerked his head back, nearly careening them into another passing hover that swerved out of the way. Kai lost his grip on the door, banging into Thorne before he was able to sit normally again.

"The next time," said Thorne, righting the hover, "be specific. Tell me which direction to go or which direction not to go."

"Keep going straight for now," said Kai, closing his eyes in relief. He snapped them back open instantly. He fiddled with the navigation system and typed in the address he remembered. "Oh, thank the stars. We're still in the right dome."

"What do you mean, _the right one_?"

"Well, there are different domes on Luna. Within them, there are different sectors. I was hoping that when we exited the tunnel we hadn't navigated far enough to reach another dome, since we tried to land not too far from the manufacturing sector."

"That would have been useful to mention before we stole a hover, Kai."

Kai flashed him a sly grin, feeling triumphant. "As you said, at least we have a hover now."

The rest of the ride continued smoothly, despite a few bumps of turbulence here and there, which Kai was certain were caused by Thorne and not any air pockets. When they circled over the neighborhood once, they also faced the dilemma of where to land—the ports for the podships were underground, but they couldn't figure out where all the hovers were supposed to land because there weren't any. Flying as low as possible without being in plain sight, Kai told Thorne that the streets were just as quiet as the one they had left. Too quiet.

"If the security system alerted the owners—"

"—which it did—"

"—then we'll be jeopardizing our location by landing there."

"Let's just land wherever," said Thorne. "If no one is out, we can make a run for it. Slip behind the houses."

"They're more like shacks."

Thorne harrumphed. "Probably not for people who aren't Emperors."

"Believe me, as an Emperor, I've seen my fair share of different houses. This a very poor neighborhood, by any standards."

Kai skimmed the map. "It looks like there's a small park right on the outskirts. Let's land there. Hang a left."

"If Cinder asks, I'm an excellent pilot," said Thorne, following his instructions.

"If we arrive there in one piece, I'll tell her anything," said Kai.

"I think you'll be too busy doing other things to have time to talk," said Thorne. He winked at Kai, who rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure there won't be much time to socialize. Okay, left here, and start descending. _Slowly_." He gripped the door handle again, ready to be jerked around in the landing. Thorne seemed to have gained more control of the hover, though, and there were only a few bumps. "Have you figured out what you're going to do about Cress yet?"

He shrugged. "I'm just going to be my usual charming self."

"You know what I mean."

"Like you said, there probably won't be much time to socialize."

"Joking aside, you should still talk to her—okay, we're about to hit the ground."

Thorne moved the controllers forward lightly, the hover almost at a standstill, now humming quietly. "Of course we're about to hit the ground. I told you I can see things up close just fine."

They landed with a small jolt, and Kai finally released the door handle. His fist was numb. "You are going to talk to her, right?"

Thorne unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped out of the hover. Kai did the same, thankful to be back on level ground again, and jogged to meet Thorne. "Let's go," was all he said.

They took off running. It was so much easier to move now that Thorne had his eyesight back. There would be no more tripping or awkward arm holding on this leg of the trip. Kai marveled at the quality of the grass under his feet as he ran towards the bushes of the park, amazed at how technology had brought them so far. If he didn't know he was on Luna, it would be hard to tell.

Once out of the clearing, Kai peered from behind a tree towards the looming neighborhood before them. "It's still empty. Like a ghost town."

"Do you think it's a trap?"

"From Wolf? I don't know, you guys are the ones who vouched for him. He seems like a good guy."

"But this was this was his back-up plan," Thorne insisted. "We have no idea who lives at that house. And from what you're saying, maybe _no one_ lives here anymore."

"But they could be waiting for us," said Kai. "It's our best shot."

Thorne didn't need clarification for who _they_ were. He nodded silently at Kai with understanding and set his jaw. "We'll sneak around the back of the houses one by one. I'm obviously known for being stealthy, but can you handle that?"

"Shouldn't be a problem. I used to sneak around the palace as a child all the time." He didn't add that he was certain Thorne was anything _but_ stealthy.

"Well, that settles it, then. If this emperor thing doesn't work out, you might have a future career in espionage."

Laughing just as much as Thorne, Kai thought about the last few months. "Even better. A career change might just be thing I need after all this."

* * *

Thorne knocked on the door while Kai stayed hidden. Having the Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth show up at one's door randomly was probably not the best idea. He was not thrilled to be putting himself in harm's way, but though he hated to admit it, the likelihood of him being recognized over Kai was slim considering the circumstances. When no one came to the door, he knocked again.

After four times without a response, he went to the back of the little gray house to find Kai.

"There's no one home."

"What do we now?"

Thorne sat down next to where Kai was crouched, all the adrenaline leaving him. "I have no idea."


	28. Chapter 28

Eira, Abbott, Wolf, and Cress were waiting for her when she joined them downstairs again after her shower.

"Everything is settled," said Eira. "I've convinced my supervisor that I'm sick today and therefore won't be going in. Abbott luckily has today off."

"A rarity," said Abbott.

"Is it still as bad as it used to be?" asked Wolf. "The Special Operatives didn't learn much about what was happening above ground. It wasn't considered necessary information for our missions."

His parents sighed in unison. Abbott took Eira's hand in his own and squeezed it. "It's worse. Her Majesty has really run us ragged with work since you left. It seems that each year she finds a new excuse for us to work more."

"Productivity," added Eira.

"And when we're not working, we're restricted by curfew."

Cress looked crestfallen. "That almost sounds like captivity."

"Well," said Eira. "It is what it is." She turned to Cinder. "What sector are you from?"

Cinder's mind raced. "Ar-Artemisia."

Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline. "And you wanted to leave? Artemisia is heaven compared to these outer sectors."

She tried to recover quickly. "With different…morals…it was hard to stay." Did morals cover the fact that she was a Special Operative and Shell sympathizer, as she'd told them?

"Indeed," said Eira, frowning. "Abbott has spoken with one of our neighbors—the one we wanted you to meet. We think he and his family would be willing to help you." She hesitated and glanced up sadly at her son. "You're in a tricky situation as it is, escaping Artemisia, and they will likely be suspicious of Ze'ev. I'm sure you understand."

Abbott clapped his hand on Wolf's shoulder before he could respond. Wolf towered over him, but Abbott still managed to make Wolf look small in the presence of his father. "No worries. Ze'ev can stay with me. We have a lot of catching up to do."

"But Wolf—I mean, Ze'ev—" she tried.

"It's not a problem, Iko," said Wolf, shutting Cinder up with a hard look.

She didn't want them to separate, but Wolf was right. What excuse could they give? The last thing they wanted to do was come off as suspicious and give them a reason to doubt their intentions. If they could get Wolf's parents and the neighbor's family to trust them, they would be one step closer to starting a revolution. She had never planned to overthrow Levana without the help of her people, anyway. Dr. Erland had been right—it would be foolish to do so.

She acknowledged them with a determined nod.

"Wonderful," said Eira, beaming. "Abbott, we'll just be at Oisin's, then."

"But where will you be?" asked Cress. She gestured anxiously to Wolf and his father.

"Not to worry, dear, your partner will be back soon," said Eira, reaching out to pat her arm.

Cress' eyes bulged as Cinder bit back her laugh. "My...partner?"

"Mom," said Wolf, clearing his throat. "We're not—Cress isn't—don't you think she's a little young for me?"

Cinder coughed.

"Your secret is safe with us," said Abbott. "And we'll probably be here. It looks suspicious if we walk around the neighborhood. The only other option is to go to the shopping districts for business, and with one of Her Majesty's soldiers in tow it would draw attention anywhere we went, especially downtown."

Life on Luna was beginning to sound like captivity indeed, thought Cinder. Why would it be suspicious to walk around a neighborhood? Why weren't the streets bustling with people like in a normal city? How could anyone stand to work so much, and then continue to be isolated? A revolution was sounding more plausible by the minute.

"We'll see you later then," said Cinder reluctantly to Wolf and Abbott.

The walk to Oisin's house was short in distance but took quite some time, with Eira stopping every thirty seconds to glance over her shoulder suspiciously, then pause to hide behind a tree or building wall. The houses were so close together, and there was a definite lack of shrubbery, so they mostly hid behind walls. Cinder wasn't sure exactly what it was they were hiding from, but she didn't dare ask. Eira's bioelectricity was full of enough panic for the three of them.

Ten houses down, the back door opened quickly after Eira gave a strange combination of knocks—a code? Her fading, checkered skirt fluttered behind her when she crossed the threshold and beckoned for Cinder and Cress to enter. A man, probably of similar age to Eira, with black curls and green eyes stood in the entryway.

"He looks familiar," Cress whispered, as Eira shook his hand.

Cinder did not recognize him at all. He murmured something to Eira, and she agreed. Without any introductions, he turned and shuffled down the small hallway. Eira smiled encouragingly before following him. Her bioelectricity, however, halted Cinder.

"She's still panicking," she told Cress out of the corner of her mouth.

"Maybe she's nervous about Wolf?"

Perhaps. She had shown a lot of concern for her son already, and now that she'd just gotten him back she probably wouldn't want anything to jeopardize losing him. "Or something's wrong."

"We can still leave," said Cress, looking behind them. "We don't have to do this."

"But if we leave now, they'll know something's up."

"He seemed friendly enough," said Cress. "It's not really Levana or a thaumaturge." She pointed at her brain. "Shell."

"True," said Cinder slowly.

"Coming girls?" called Eira from down the hallway, peeking her head out. "Oisin doesn't have all day."

"Let's go," said Cinder.

She walked side by side with Cress down the hallway, and before long they had turned into a kitchen that mirrored the Kesley residence, save the chipped, seagreen paint on the wall. Oisin and Eira waited expectantly, but Cinder started when she saw that they were joined by two other people: a large, busty woman with hair dyed electric pink and glittering stars painted over her cheeks and bare arms, and a middle-aged man who looked like he could be Oisin's younger brother.

An orange light in her vision flashed on as her eyes swept over them. When they paused on Oisin again, it did not disappear, to Cinder's surprise. She blinked and took a step back, her breathing hitching despite herself. Why wasn't she expecting them to wear glamours when _she_ was wearing a glamour? Didn't they know that Cress would be able to see them anyway?

"Hello," she said quietly. "Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. My name is Iko and this is Cress."

"Hi," said Cress.

They did not introduce themselves in turn. The younger of the two men, probably around the same age as Eira, shifted his previous attention on Cress towards her instead. Cinder thought that maybe he could have been a nice person if he didn't have such a menacing look in his eyes at that very moment.

Something about the buzz of bioelectricity was wrong in the room. She couldn't pin it, but a chill crept over her the longer she stared. The feel of it was getting stronger, more palpable, more—

Spinning around, Cinder nearly smacked into two other Lunars. When had they arrived? Why hadn't she seen them? Felt their bioelectricity before? What was wrong with her?

"Cinder!" said Cress, causing her to turn back to the front of the kitchen. More Lunars had joined the room from the door to the right. She quickly counted ten—no, twelve—more. Looking behind her, there stood at least six now.

It was overwhelming. There were so many of them—twenty-two by now. Did so many of them share the same sympathies as Oisin?

She didn't have a chance to process the thought.

"Grab the Shell," commanded Oisin.

Two of the Lunars leapt on Cress. She screamed and Cinder, horrified, threw her mind at them before she could even move her body an inch. S _tay away from her,_ she commanded. _You don't touch her_ , she coerced.

Their minds were pliable, and Cinder was having no trouble connecting with their bioelectricity. Another person advanced on Cress just as someone made for her own wrists. She thrashed against him, using one of the moves Wolf had taught her to struggle out of the grip. Rushing forward, she threw punches as several Lunars swarmed her like bees. She tried to get closer to Cress, who was now pinned to the ground, sobbing, beneath the weight of two people who pressed their knees against her back.

_You will not take Cress! Shells are not bad! She is important! Stop it!_

She shot her thoughts in every which way, at any person she could feel around her, but then something else connected with her: several minds at once, from all different directions. Penetrating into her defenses.

 _They_ were trying to control _her_.

All of them.

The weight of it was instantaneous. Gritting her teeth, she tried desperately to push the thoughts away, keep them from attacking Cress, keep her glamour up, and fight her way forward. Her programming screaming at her that bioelectrical manipulation was detected, Cinder cursed Levana for frying the chip in her spine and making her unable to resist manipulation like she had at the ball.

The occasional _clang_ when her titanium fist connected with skin and bone gave her some restored satisfaction. But not enough. Wolf had not been kidding. She was no match for so many people. She had too many tasks at once to complete. And their unified glamour was too powerful against her own single mind. There were too many signals coming in at once, each telling her mind to do the same thing: _surrender. Give up._

It had all been a trap, just like on the palace rooftop—only now it was just Cress and Cinder. Even Wolf, who they had so stupidly agreed to leave behind, could not help them. She ignored his teachings, squeezing her eyes shut. She was pushed on the floor immediately by more than one person, but maybe her tactic on the rooftop would serve her now as well. She would tune the sights around her out. Push every part of her being into her brain waves to resist them. _She could overpower them too if she just focused hard enough_.

She could not let go of her glamour. If only she could find one mind that would control the rest, if only she could clamp down a piece of everyone's mind just as she had done with Sybil Mira. She blocked at least four of them—they were no thaumaturges. But as she latched onto their minds, the others descended on hers.

There were too many of them. Too many waves being thrown at her, too many suggestions. She was having trouble keeping her thoughts straight, trouble separating friend from foe.

"Cin-IKO! Save yourself!" yelled Cress.

She could not…would not…

"Go!" yelled Cress.

But it was too late. She thought about letting go of her glamour to ease her burden, but the second it flashed through her mind, she knew it had vanished. Her warning signals went haywire, and she breathed out a sigh of relief as she did what they wanted: she gave up.

Surrender felt good. It was what she wanted. She didn't want to resist them anymore.

Somewhere inside, Cinder knew that was what they were telling her to think, but it felt so _right_. Her muscles relaxed, along with her heartrate and breaths per minute. There was no point in struggling.

The woman who was holding down her shoulders jerked her head up at Eira and Oisin, who Cinder noticed where still standing there as if nothing had happened at all. "It's…Linh Cinder! The cyborg who kidnapped Emperor Kaito!"

Murmuring ensued, but nobody moved except for Oisin, who walked almost regally over to her. He prodded her metal foot with his boot. "It appears Miss Linh has a death wish, coming to Luna in her podship and leaving it so out in the open for anyone to discover." Cinder felt the urge to recoil but more soothing voices told her to remain still. "Have you come to deliver Her Majesty's beloved?" His eyes slid to Cress. "And perhaps drop off a Shell in apology for ruining her wedding?"

"No," said Cress, crying. "Please, leave us alone. We mean no harm."

"Shells are dangerous," continued Oisin. "Are they not, Eira?"

Oisin's body blocked Cinder from seeing Eira's face, but her voice was impassive, expressionless. "Yes."

"We're not dangerous!" Cress burst out. Cinder wanted to say something too, but she wasn't quite sure why she didn't need to defend herself anymore.

"They threaten the stability of our population. If we allow Shells to live, they could reproduce and pass on their defective gene."

"But they don't kill us!" Cress sounded desperate. "They use our blood to create letumosis!"

Oisin ignored her. "I think our choice is clear, my friends."

As Oisin walked away, Cinder tried to get a glimpse of everyone around her. Those above her, still holding her down, were nodding.

"We are in agreement, it seems," said Eira.

"No!" said Cress.

"Release them."

"Wha-?"

The hold on Cinder's mind vanished as quickly as the arms and legs pinning her down. Blind fury filled her. She lurched forward, not even standing up and grabbed the nearest person, extracting the knife out of her finger and pressing it sharply to her throat. "Anybody moves and she dies."

She wondered if they believed her, if she believed herself—would she really kill this person? She would, she decided, if it meant that she could keep them from taking Cress.

But she surveyed the room and no one was moving, save Cress, who was standing up and dusting herself off. Her tear-stained face was confused.

"Cress! Get behind me, quick."

"I apologize, Miss Linh," said Oisin while Cress scurried behind Cinder into the hallway. "It was necessary. We had to know who you were."

Cinder dragged the woman she held to her feet as she stood up, careful not to move the knife. "What was necessary? What's going on? Who are you? What do you want?"

"We had to be certain," said Eira.

Cinder narrowed her eyes at the warm smile that was once again emanating off of Eira. "He's your son. _Your son_! Does family not mean anything to anyone, no matter what planet you live on? _Where is Ze'ev?_ "

"He'll be along as soon we get a message to his father that everything is well here."

"If you hurt him—if you turn him into the thaumaturges—!" She trailed off, not knowing what she would do exactly, but it wouldn't be pleasant for these Lunars. She instinctively reached out and secured a hold on the mind of three Lunars. They put up no resistance this time. She started feeling around for more minds that weren't hard to manipulate.

"In my defense, your arrival was suspicious from the start," said Oisin, holding up his hands. "You came on a medical hover, instead of on the subway. Everyone knows that hover use is strictly prohibited unless for official government business."

Cinder swallowed. She hadn't known that. Hadn't even seen any blueprints of a subway.

"We had to make sure you weren't thaumaturges or royal guards." He gestured towards Cress. "The Shell, of course, presented a different problem. Had Ze'ev _really_ rescued a Shell? If so, how had you managed to escape the lava tubes undetected?"

"You know about the lava tubes?" asked Cress at the same time that Cinder said, "Her name is Cress, not "the Shell."

"We never know what Her Majesty might do to test her subjects. She is…paranoid, to say the least. It wouldn't be beyond her to send a Shell amongst the people to test where our loyalties lie. She is always suspicious of rebel activity. Any whisper of it sends her on a witch hunt."

Eira took a step forward, but retreated quickly when Cinder tightened her grip on the knife. "I didn't think that you were thaumaturges," she said. "But you claimed to watch Earthen newsfeeds and net dramas—another mistake. Outer sectors are only allowed to watch what the Lunar government deems appropriate. Information from Earth is prohibited; we only have net access to a closed-circuit feed that comes from Artemisia."

"When Eira told me of your arrival, I was naturally suspicious," said Oisin. "We knew you were wearing a glamour, but couldn't figure out why. Perhaps you were a spy, only pretending to be ignorant of our culture."

"All Lunars wear glamours," said Cinder defensively. "You're wearing one," she said. "As you know, I'm a cyborg, so my programming can see past glamours if I stare at you long enough. I believe you've only changed a few details, haven't you?"

Almost instantly, he changed. His hair turned snow-white, his eyes slate gray. Cinder's brow furrowed. He did look somewhat familiar—why?

"I am not skilled in my gift. I was trained as a royal guard, and they specifically pick people for this position who have weak minds. I've worked on my gift, though, for many years. I can now change just a few details of my own appearance, though I'm hardly able to control anyone else. You see, alone we are weak. Alone we don't stand a chance. But together, we have learned that we can distract someone's mind enough—like yours—that they are not able to control us. We've only been able to practice on ourselves until now. Today was, in essence, an experiment."

The lady with the electric pink hair spoke up. "It worked well," she said. "She was buying everything we were feeding her."

"Well," Oisin continued, "some of us are more powerful than others. Not all of us used to be royal guards. We're just not talented enough to be thaumaturges or to even be noticed by her Majesty, considering where we come from. She likes to think that powerful glamour runs in certain aristocratic families. The rest of us, if not selected for special training at a young age, are not worth her consideration."

Her arm was growing tired from holding the knife up. "Get to the point," she snarled, but it came out half-heartedly.

"Certainly. But I ask that you release my friend before you accidentally cut her throat. We will not attack you again, I assure you."

"Don't trust them, Cinder!" said Cress. "It could be a trick."

His slate-gray eyes turned amused. "We heard word of the podship landing in the abandoned tunnel almost immediately. After all, who works in those tunnels?" He waited, as if for her to indulge him, but she just rolled her eyes. "We do, naturally. Not all of us personally, but those of in the lower Lunar classes know those tunnels, caves, and passages inside out."

"We expected the ship to be found," said Cinder.

"You were careless. Her Majesty is aware of it now too. Our sources tell us that she was able to cover it up before it became public knowledge, but we had already discovered it by them. We suspected that someone from Earth had come here. The ship was not of Lunar design, you see. We make all the ships as well."

"Linh Cinder," said Eira. "I did not expect it to be you with my son. I was surprised he was even in the company of anyone other than a thaumaturge. After all, Her Majesty's soldiers are supposed to be unstable."

"Wolf is not unstable," said Cress.

Oisin's eyes glinted at that comment. "What I want to know is why Linh Cinder has glamour? That was certainly a surprise. Isn't Linh Cinder supposed to be a cyborg… _Earthen_?"

"Nope. I'm Lunar," said Cinder, wishing he would stop referring to her in the third person. She dropped the knife and pushed the woman away from her, but she held up her hand, readying the tranquilizer darts. She backed up until she was almost stepping on Cress' toes. " _Surprise._ "

"We know you kidnapped the Emperor. Where is he now?"

"As if I would tell you," she spat as her heart tightened at the fact that she had _no idea_ where Kai was.

"We don't want Levana to take over the Earth any more than you do. We want Levana dethroned and order restored on Luna. Tell me, did you plan to assassinate her?"

Cinder glanced back at Cress, who looked in deep thought. She side-stepped until she was next to her and leaned down to whisper, not taking her eyes off the Lunars. "I don't think we should trust them."

Cress whispered back, "They _did_ let me go. And they claim to hate Levana. Maybe they would side with you. But this entire situation is too confusing for me. You make the choice."

Cinder straightened. "You attacked us."

"Precaution," said Oisin, shrugging. "I can't risk having anyone find out about us."

"You say 'we' and 'us' a lot. How many of you are there exactly?"

Oisin shrugged again, the amused expression returning to his eyes. "Why share all my secrets when you've shared none of yours? I'm giving you a chance to join us, Linh Cinder. Your efforts at resisting the Queen have proved useful thus far. If you can get close to the Emperor, we might be able to help each other. Work together."

She hesitated and looked to Cress again, who had pressed her lips in consideration. "Answer me this first. Why are you against Levana? Why dethrone her?"

"She took my sons from me," said Eira.

"Killed my husband," said a woman.

"My son was a Shell," said a man.

"My son is one of the soldiers waging war on Earth now," said another.

"Thaumaturge Park killed my parents," said yet another.

Cinder could feel the remorse, bitterness, and loss that suddenly fueled the room. She raised an eyebrow at Oisin.

"Her Majesty murdered my best friend many years ago. My son will likely suffer the same fate," he said, his eyes turning cold. "Now, what do you have against the Queen? Or do you only wish to go after her because she stole your lover?"

Burying away the word _lover,_ Cinder let out a laugh. "You mean besides the fact that she's trying to kill me?"

After a brief nod of confirmation from Cress, Cinder took a deep breath. She still wasn't completely sure she could trust them, but if she was looking for people to start a revolution with her, this might be the perfect place to start.

"There is one other injustice that I need to correct," she said. Cinder retracted her tranquilizer darts. If they tried to kill her, she was sure they could do it collectively whether she got in a few shots or not. "You see...my name is Selene Blackburn."

The sad energy in the room turned to shock as her words registered.

Oisin, however, grinned triumphantly. "Selene Blackburn," he said, as if rolling it around on his tongue.

"That's right," she said, chin high. "I have the DNA tests to prove it."

He approached her slowly, as if unsure if she would attack him. Cinder stayed rooted to her spot by Cress, who squeezed her arm quickly with reassurance.

Then, to her surprise, Oisin knelt on the ground in front of her. The rest of the room followed suit. Cinder just gaped at them.

"Princess Selene," said Oisin, this time in a low voice, eyes on her feet. He finally lifted his chin and pushed himself into a standing position. "It is my greatest pleasure to meet you, Highness. My name is Garrison Clay."

* * *

"Well, I guess that's that, then. It's been nice trying to save the world with you."

Kai stared up at the artificial sky, a glimpse of the stars behind the dome just barely visible if he looked hard enough. He tore his gaze away and regarded Thorne. "What do you mean?"

Thorne picked up some dirt from the ground and sifted it through his fingers several times before answering. "Mission failed. Backup mission too. Might as well accept it."

"No," said Kai firmly. "We'll figure out a way out of this."

"I'm a gambling man, Kai, and even I can admit that we're shot out of luck. Someone will eventually discover us."

Over the past few hours of waiting, a few Lunars had finally shown up on the street in front of the gray house which they sat hidden behind. They hadn't dared peek out to see who it might be, but no one had entered the house, much to their bitter disappointment. Kai sighed and slammed his head against the back of the house. It was almost nightfall, and Thorne was right: they were out of backup plans. Someone _would_ find them.

"There's another option, Thorne."

Thorne dropped the dirt and rubbed his hands together excitedly. "I'm all ears."

"The plan has always been to get me to Levana eventually. When someone catches us, I'll admit who I am and demand to be taken to her."

"Not an option," said Thorne immediately.

Kai put on his best neutral face. "It may be the only option. And wherever Cinder is, it might buy her some time."

"But if you do this…"

"I'll make sure you're not harmed," he said, meeting Thorne's skeptical look. "I'll bargain for your freedom. Levana may have most of the chips in this game, but I've still got a few up my sleeve."

Silence fell between them.

"I'm not even sure where I would go," said Thorne. He began to pick up the dirt again and piled it into a mound. He drew shapes with his pinky and cocked his head to the side, analyzing. Kai thought he might be drawing a map. "I'll want the Rampion back, of course."

Kai rolled his eyes. "I'll see what I can do, Captain."

Night fell shortly thereafter, Kai's stomach growling furiously. A single hover circled the area with a big spotlight, apparently searching for something, and they hid to the best of their ability by the tree in the backyard.

"Maybe we'll starve before anyone catches us," Thorne quipped.

"It'll certainly be less painful than another adventure with Royer."

"Indeed."

Seconds, minutes, or hours ticked away. He wasn't sure, and not knowing _anything_ drove him just as crazy as it had in the tunnel. Their escape from the palace, the tunnel, Royer—it had all been futile.

But the hair on the back of his neck stood up straight when a low-rumble that sounded distinctively like a growl cut through the rustling of the tree they were sitting by. They both sprang to their feet in panic.

" _One of her child soldiers!"_ Kai yelped. " _They're like real wolves, Thorne!"_

"Yes, thank you," said Thorne, clearly annoyed. "I've heard enough about them to know I don't want to encounter one."

Another growl, louder this time, ripped through the air. They could hear running. Fast running.

A cold sweat dripped down Kai's back. He would not make it to Levana if one of her soldiers ripped them both to shreds first.

"Quick, get in the tree!"

Thorne had already grabbed onto the trunk and was attempting to pull himself up. Kai tried to follow him quickly, but they had both barely made it more than a few branches up when the running noise was almost beneath them.

A hand reached out and yanked Kai out of the tree. He yelled, just as that same hand reached for Thorne, who let out a high-pitched scream. They both scrambled to their feet, ready to run, when Kai's eyes widened at the familiar form standing in front of them, snarling.

"You idiots," he said, crossing his arms. "Did you really think that someone like me wouldn't be able to find you just because you're in a tree?"

Kai was speechless, but Thorne spoke up. "Wolves can't climb trees."

Wolf harrumphed. "We're _better_ than wolves."

"I'm glad you finally realize that." Thorne slapped his knee, laughing.

A smile played on Wolf's lips. "Let's get you out of the open." He nodded at Kai. "Your Majesty."

"I've never been happier to see you," said Kai, wanting to cry out of joy.

"I'll second that," said Thorne.

"Quietly now," said Wolf. "I could hear you breathing from two houses over. Thought you were royal guards."

" _Someone_ wasn't home when we arrived like they were supposed to be," whispered Thorne. "What did you want us to do, break down the door?"

Wolf ignored him. "It's been a very long day filled with many things we have to catch you up on. I'll let Cinder do that for you. She's in the house."

"She's—she's okay?" Kai choked out. His body warmed with relief.

"Yes," said Wolf, pushing them towards the house. He looked around in every direction as they walked.

"And Cress?" said Thorne.

"She's okay too. She's not here, though."

"Where is she then?" he asked sharply.

"Doing some important work for us with some friends."

"You left her alone with _Lunars_?"

Wolf didn't respond, so Thorne threw an unbelieving look at Kai, who shook his head as if to say _I have no idea, either._

Wolf slipped them in through the back, and the light from inside the house flooded Kai's face, making him squint. By the time his furious blinking had brought the room into existence, Kai registered two remarkable things.

First, six people were crowded around a small kitchen table.

Second, Cinder stood at the head of the table, her mouth agape at the sight of Kai and Thorne entering with Wolf. "Kai? Thorne?"

"Miss me?" said Thorne, grinning.

When Cinder began to make her way around the table, Kai forgot every part of conducting himself like an emperor should in the presence of new company. He threw himself at her, enveloping her in a deep embrace, burying her into the crook of his neck. She smelled of rock and dust and sweat and some sort of food and _she was perfect_.

Perfectly Cinder and perfectly safe.

Her arms wrapped just as tightly around his waist, he rocked them back and forth, murmuring into her hair how beautiful she was and how happy he was to see her.

A finger tapped his shoulder. "Hey, learn to share, Kai."

Cinder laughed into Kai's neck and pulled back, then slipped one arm around Thorne, pulling him into the hug as well. "You're both okay," she said, sounding on the verge of tears. "You're both okay."

"So are you," said Kai.

"Um, hello?" said Thorne. "You haven't even acknowledged the fact that I can see again."


	29. Chapter 29

With Cinder still hugging Kai and him tightly, Thorne's eyes darted suspiciously over her shoulder to the five unknown people standing in the tight space that was apparently supposed to be a kitchen. Wolf, surprisingly, stood at ease next to them. Thorne nudged his forehead into the side of Cinder's hair, making his whisper look like a caress to those watching them.

"Careful, Cinder," he breathed into her ear. "Are you sure we can trust these Lunars?"

Cinder pulled back immediately. "Yes," she said, eyes bright, making him want to groan at her inability to be discrete.

"Yes what?" asked Kai.

"Yes, we can trust these Lunars." Cinder turned around and slipped her arms around their waists again, but Thorne wriggled away from her. "This is Carswell Thorne of the American Republic, and Emperor Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth."

Thorne now groaned intentionally. "You're _killing_ me, Cinder." What was she doing, giving away both of their identities?

Even Kai was squirming next to her. "Good evening," he said tersely.

The five Lunars seemed to examine them collectively. Then the less glittery of the two women stepped forward and clasped her hands together excitedly. "Emperor Kaito, welcome to our humble home. My name is Eira. My husband Abbott and I"—she reached behind her and practically yanked a man next to her—"are beyond honored to host both you and Princess Selene."

Kai's shocked stuttering mirrored Thorne's thoughts. "I'm—but—Princess Selene?" He turned to Cinder, confusion and obvious feigned-surprise written all over him.

"It's okay," said Cinder. "They know everything."

Thorne grunted. "Clearly not, if they don't think it's an honor to host me."

Though he had tried to keep his muttering between himself and Cinder, Eira's smile brightened. "The fugitive Carswell Thorne, of course. You are most welcome as well. We know you have aided our Princess from the beginning."

Slightly mollified, Thorne extended his hand to her. "Thank you, Eira. You can call me Captain Thorne."

He went on to shake Abbott's hand while Eira did an awkward curtsy in front of Kai, whose brow remained furrowed.

"Now that all of you seem to know everything about us," said Thorne, crossing his arms in front of the three Lunars who hadn't moved to greet them, "I'd say it's about time someone told us what's going on here."

He drew himself up like he had some authority over the situation, but the younger of the two men was frowning at him and the other woman's shimmery skin distracted him. The third man, blond and tall and probably the same age as Eira and Abbott, had an impassive expression. Thorne disliked him immediately.

"Let's take a seat," said Cinder, her voice more authoritative than he'd ever heard her. He wondered if the whole _Princess Selene_ title had already gone to her head in the few days that they'd been away.

"I'd prefer to stand," said Kai. Thorne quirked his eyebrow at him. Kai still held an arm around Cinder almost possessively. "We've been sitting all day," he clarified.

"Fine," said Cinder. "Whoever wants to sit can sit."

There was some shuffling, and in the end Thorne took a seat next to Wolf and the lady with the glittering stars painted all over her body. It was probably just a glamour, but the way they moved in the light made him dart his eyes over to her skin frequently. He'd forgotten the way that light manipulated reflections during his blindness, and frankly, it was mesmerizing. Something about it was also unsettling, reminding him of how easily Elara and Fay had been mesmerizing when they wanted him to think that.

She was not entirely unattractive either, if perfection with a bit of grunge was the type of thing someone found attractive. Probably not more than five or six years older than him, he moved his eyes to examine her pink hair until he realized that it probably looked like he was staring at her. Clearing his throat, he shifted his attention to Cinder, who had peeled herself away from Kai. Standing only centimeters away from her, though, he looked prepared to jump in front of her in case of impending danger.

"Ze'ev?" said Cinder, nodding her head at Eira and Abbott who had remained standing.

Before Thorne could ask who Ze'ev was, Wolf deadpanned next to him: "They're my parents."

"Wait," said Thorne, making a T with his hands. "Time out. The safe house belongs to _you_?"

"I grew up here."

"That would have been a useful fact to mention before we used this as our Plan B," said Kai almost sourly.

Wolf just shrugged. "I didn't think it was useful or necessary at the time to reveal my true identity."

"We waited outside for practically an entire day, wondering if we would be killed on sight!"

Cinder touched Kai's hand lightly and some of the fire simmered in his eyes. "Everyone has secrets, Kai."

"I still can't believe this is where you grew up," said Thorne, trying to defuse the tension. "And to think, you have _parents_. Here I thought you were created in a lab." No one laughed at his comment. "Lighten up," he said to all of them. "Wolf is made of tough stuff. Literally."

"And to think that I almost missed you," said Wolf, scowling.

Glittery-woman next to him laugh throatily, and Thorne turned to her skeptically. "And who exactly are you, Pink?"

The smile she gave him was one of the whitest he'd ever seen. She reached out and patted his cheek, and he flinched away. No one would _ever_ touch him again without his permission. The woman just laughed at his unease, though. "You're kind of adorable, sugar. Name's Florencia." Then she nodded at Kai. "Emperor Kaito."

"I'm Sebastian," said the man who was ever-frowning. He bowed stiffly in Kai's direction, who returned the gesture. He didn't acknowledge Thorne. "We lead an underground resistance whose goal is eventually to usurp Queen Levana. We are tired of her oppressive regime. Now that Princess Selene has returned home, this may actually be a reality within the foreseeable future. For the past day, we have been making plans with her Highness, Ze'ev and Cress."

"Where _is_ Cress?" Thorne interjected.

"She is doing important work with our top hacker. I daresay they'll be at it for quite some time."

He turned accusatorily to Cinder. "How could you leave her alone with someone you don't even know? She's _shy_. She can get uncomfortable easily!"

"She stayed of her own volition, sugar," said Florencia.

"Stop calling me that," he snapped.

Florencia looked delighted at his outburst. "I like this one, Princess."

"You heard the man," said Kai sharply.

Florencia rolled her eyes and muttered something to the likes of " _so sensitive,"_ but she didn't look at Thorne or Kai when she said it.

Cinder looked like she was trying to reclaim the situation and finally beckoned to the last man—the older one with the impassive expression and striking blond hair. He did not speak, though.

Cinder exchanged a quick look with him. "This is Garrison Clay. Jacin—Jacin's father."

 _Jacin_. _No, it couldn't be._ Thorne shot to his feet. Had everyone else known it from the beginning? Recognized him while Thorne had never even known what the lunar guard looked like? "Is that what you've been waiting to tell us? That you've joined sides with a traitor?"

"Thorne—" Kai was looking nervously between the three of them, but Thorne didn't let him finish.

"Jacin betrayed us, Kai. Or do you not remember how we almost died on your rooftop palace while you were unconscious?"

Kai frowned and some of the fire that had diminished from his eyes returned. "I'm—I'm sure there's an explanation. Cinder?"

"My son is not in league with Queen Levana," said Garrison sharply before Cinder could respond. "Jacin is kind and loyal and—"

"Oh good stars, you're blinder than I was!"

"Thorne, just _listen_ ," said Cinder. "I know this a lot to take in. Kai, did Levana ever talk to you about her previous marriage?"

"We never talked about anything personal," said Kai. "But everyone knows about her step-daughter, Winter, so of course I _knew_ she'd been married before."

"She was married to a man named Evret Hayle."

"My best friend," said Garrison icily. "Levana forced him to marry her and then had him murdered. But not before she violated every part of his mind and body in the name of _love_." Kai's face had paled slightly. "A similar fate will likely await you, Emperor Kaito."

"That's what we're here to avoid, Kai," Cinder reminded him.

"She continues to ruin the lives not only of Luna's citizens but also of Princess Winter, who is practically my family, even if not by blood. And my son Jacin would die to protect her." Garrison's knuckles were turning white against the table. "He would do anything for that girl. But he is trapped by Queen Levana, required to do her bidding. She has stolen him from me too."

"We're still confirming that story regarding Princess Winter," said Wolf, his tone low. They had better be checking out that story. Princess Winter had taken Scarlet captive, hadn't she?

"I'm sorry," said Kai in an official-sounding voice. "Levana has taken so much from all of us."

"But she will take so much more, young Emperor," said Garrison, leaning forward. "Imagine if Levana wore _Princess Selene_ as a glamour, whom we know you are unmistakably attracted to." Thorne wanted to laugh at Kai and Cinder's embarrassed faces, because he had imagined them looking like this hundreds of times on the Rampion, but the picture Garrison was painting was far too creepy to be made into a joke. "Imagine she seduces you looking like Princess Selene, and then spends the rest of your married life coercing you into—"

"Why don't we eat something?" Wolf's mother cut in abruptly. "Z, get some plates. I'm sure all of this catching up will be much easier with some food in our stomachs."

"Good idea," said Cinder, clearly relieved at the interruption. "And we want to hear everything that's happened to you since the tunnel collapsed."

"Thank you for your hospitality," said Kai, his voice still official.

Cinder rushed around with Wolf, apparently unwilling to allow others to serve her. In doing so, she missed the brief moment in which Kai's lips pressed into a straight line and the way he wrung his hands together before hiding them in his pockets.

Was Kai thinking about it too? How could he not, when it only just been this morning? Were Fay's possessive eyes tormenting him the way Elara's seductive smirk wouldn't quite leave Thorne's mind?

It had replayed a dozen times while they'd waited outside of the house: Her mind freezing his body with a mere glance. Her lips forcing themselves on his. Her hands all over him as they danced, kissed, and moved around on the sheets.

Kai's haunted voice had echoed in his mind: _"How will I ever be able to face her after this?"_

Elara wasn't half as bad as Levana, he knew that. What Kai could have coming for him could be much, much worse. With the addition of Garrison's graphic description, the thought of an alternative, more horrible outcome of today's events planted itself into his chest like a sharp knife. They had been lucky with Fay and Elara. Had the girls known who they were attracted to, the situation might have ended on a different note.

He tried to shrug it off. Captain Carswell Thorne was not one to dwell on the past. It was over. But he swallowed uncomfortably nonetheless, the image of Elara shape-shifting into Cress making his stomach curdle.

* * *

Cinder wouldn't stop fussing over him. Perhaps at any other time, he would have felt special that someone was concerned about his welfare, but in that precise moment, Thorne was just trying to eat. The only real meal he'd had since landing on Luna had been the food that Royer had practically force-fed them, and he was still too mad at Royer to count it, anyway. He was attempting to gulp down the unidentifiable soup in front of him while Cinder inspected his scalp.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head too?" she asked, making him tilt his head slightly to the right.

He grunted and swatted her away. " _Cinder_. Just because Kai has a head injury doesn't mean I do."

Kai had grudgingly allowed Wolf's mom to wrap his head in a bandage at Cinder's behest. Though his wound from the fallen rock had stopped bleeding long before they'd even cleaned themselves up in "preparation" for Fay and Elara, the gash across his forehead still glistened hot red. Insisting that he might still be susceptible to infections, Cinder had asked Eira Kesley to tend to him.

"But you said that—that horrible Lunar man tortured you."

Kai and Thorne had skipped over the worst bits of their encounter with Royer, namely, the exact intentions of those _Lunartic_ girls—a term he'd proudly coined himself to fully express their mental instability. After they'd reported the highlights of their so-called adventures since the separation in the tunnel, the room had been abuzz with questions: Whose hover had they stolen? How had they possibly gotten away with it? Where was it now?

Apparently, it hadn't been the stealthiest move on their part. They were convinced that Kai and Thorne must have stolen it from an important Lunar family if they had hover privileges. Kai speculated that Royer seemed poorer, but that Elara and Fay could have been from upper-class families based on the design of their neighborhood. Thorne had just told them flatly that escaping had been their top priority, not abiding by rules that kept oxygen levels consistent in a dome.

Cinder's questions, however, were only about their well-being: How _exactly_ had Kai fallen? What had the man done to them? Had the Lunar girls harmed them too?

"With _glamour_ , Cinder. Since I can see now, I'm actually better off than I was before we left you." It wasn't exactly the truth, but he knew that neither he nor Kai was willing to talk about the intimate details of what had transpired with Fay and Elara.

Cinder bit her lip. "I'll make them pay once this is over. I will hunt them _down_." Kai grinned from across the table, but Cinder wasn't finished with Thorne. "What about your sight? A minute ago you said you couldn't see everything clearly."

"I'm much more near-sighted than I used to be," he admitted. "The drops are done, though." He shrugged and shoveled in another spoonful of soup before anyone could stop him. "I'll just need a simple corrective procedure for long-distance vision. And if that doesn't work, cyborg eyes like you."

Cinder finally sat down with a sigh.

"I'm sure we can create some makeshift glasses for you in the meantime," said Wolf's father.

Thorne shuddered. "Glasses? _No one_ wears glasses anymore!" He paused. "At least not on Earth. Sight correction procedures have been around since the end of the Second Era."

"Lunars are well aware of such technology," said Wolf's mother. "But bringing you to a sight clinic at this time would not be advisable."

"Sebastian, can you see to it that this is taken care of tomorrow?" asked Abbott.

Sebastian jutted his chin out in silent agreement.

"Just think how great you'll look in glasses, Thorne," said Kai, practically snickering.

Thorne gave him a few choice words, but they both just laughed.

Cinder eyed them warily. "Are you two finally getting along then?"

"The Captain and I have always gotten along," said Kai.

"Couldn't have put it better myself."

Cinder's expression held disbelief but also suppressed joy. He wanted to throw in some mocking _awww's_ for her benefit, but he was still too hungry and mentally exhausted to tease her just now.

Instead, he watched Cinder and Kai sneak flirtatious glances at each other while he ate. Another desire to say something to embarrass them rose inside him, but he pushed it back down. After everything they'd all been through, they deserved some time together to just _be_ —even if it meant that he might puke if he looked at them any longer.

They were so transparent.

He continued chewing, trying to give them an ounce of privacy. He looked around the table at the others eating, but had no desire to engage them in conversation. The strange meal he was eating now reminded him of Cress, and how she'd nearly blown their fake-honeymoon cover discovering potatoes for the first time.

Cress, who was _somewhere_ , helping _someone._ They wouldn't tell him exactly _what_ she was doing, only that it was _important programming work_ and he would _see for himself soon enough_.

See for himself. He would _see_ Cress. It was a strange concept to wrap his mind around. It did funny things to his insides that he didn't quite understand.

Since she was apparently _so_ busy and _so_ important, he wouldn't be able to see her until morning when it was safe to go outside again. It was already into the early hours of the morning, and everyone would stay at Wolf's parents' house to avoid breaking the imposed curfew. He didn't know where everyone would sleep, considering that everything he'd seen of the house indicated that there wasn't enough room for them, but he didn't care. Tonight, it wasn't his responsibility to worry about logistics.

He reckoned he could sleep for days, but that he might like to spend the rest of the night playing Royals with Kai and Cinder, if Kai even knew how to play. Wolf could join them too, of course, but from the way he was practically attached at the hip to his parents, Thorne figured that he might have different interests.

Cress, on the other hand, had a pull-out cot to sleep on if she got tired.

 _Stop worrying about her,_ Cinder had assured him. _She's going to be ecstatic when she sees you_.


	30. Chapter 30

Kai woke with a gasp, his body drenched in a cold sweat. The oversized shirt he'd borrowed from Abbott clung to him like a wet blanket. He sat up, breathing heavily, eyes searching the room for something to calm him down. He was _not_ in Artemisia with Levana, he told his racing heart. The three people cramped into the small space and now blinking up at him in the dark reminded him that he was not alone, not being tortured, not a puppet.

It had just been a nightmare. And judging by the concerned look on Cinder's face, only inches away from his, he'd probably not kept his screams to himself. He exhaled deeply and Cinder's familiar hand reached out for his.

"It's okay, we're all still safe," she said quietly.

He retracted his hand though, still reeling from Levana's cruel laugh. It was not a dream he hadn't had before, but this was the first time that he could remember sleeping in the same room as someone, so he had no idea if he'd been vocal about it before. And with the cameo appearance of Fay in his dream tonight, he had no doubt it had been embarrassing to witness.

It was embarrassing enough to be sleeping in the same room as Cinder. He'd protested with concerns about proper dating etiquette for royals, even quoting Thorne and Iko's arguments on the Rampion (which he had naturally thought were stupid back then). But all bets were off on Luna, and the obvious embarrassment of Wolf's parents not being able to offer him better sleeping quarters had trumped his own feelings of discomfort.

A part of him didn't care; after being away from Cinder for far too long, he wanted nothing more than to curl together like a spoon with her right there on the floor and sleep the night away. But the people here knew who they both were, and sooner or later the rumors would get out about them. It would not serve to his advantage nor already grim position with Levana to promulgate those rumors.

Besides, Thorne had laughed and said that he had only wanted to give the two of them a hard time about those dating rules. This, naturally, made him want to punch Thorne, because he was now supposed to have his back, but maybe this was Thorne's way of doing just that. And he much preferred a blanket on the ground to sleeping with Wolf's parents or the other Lunars in the entryway downstairs.

But now Cinder had seen him probably having a fit.

"Are you okay, Kai?" Cinder asked him.

He stood, ignoring her, instead trying to shake off the combination of humiliation and fear.

"It's only five in the morning," she said. "There's still time to get some sleep."

"Cinder, can you give Kai and me a minute alone?"

Kai glanced down at Thorne, who had also stood. It was hard to see his expression from behind Cinder, but he was irritated at his interruption. He didn't need to talk to anyone. "I'm fine," he said curtly.

"Of course you are," said Thorne, coming over to stand beside Cinder. Only Wolf remained on the ground, his green eyes practically glowing from the sliver of street light shining through the window.

"Kai, it's okay if you're worried," Cinder started, but Thorne cut her off.

"Kai. Get in the hallway."

He reluctantly walked to the hallway. Thorne shut the door behind him and then pulled him a little farther from the door.

"Fay or Levana?" asked Thorne.

"Shut up," said Kai. "Cinder might hear you!"

Thorne scratched his head. "If you're that worried about her finding out, you should tell her."

"It was just a nightmare."

"To which you could have let your girl comfort you but instead flinched away?"

"I didn't flinch." He sighed. "Fine, maybe I did. Everything is so messed up."

"Knowing you, it'll eat at you until you spill. You're the type who's always doing the right thing. Frankly, it gets annoying."

"If I always did the right thing, Levana wouldn't hate me so much."

Thorne gave him a very pointed look, and Kai clasped his hands over his head in frustration. He didn't want to talk to Cinder, but maybe telling her what had happened would keep the nightmares away. Besides, he hadn't gotten any time alone with Cinder since he'd arrived. "Where would we even go? That's not the type of conversation I want to have in front of a bunch of Lunars."

"Cinder and Wolf are Lunars."

"And I'm still getting used to that fact, thank you very much. There are just too many people in this house. I'm not saying anything in front of all of you."

"Go in the bathroom," said Thorne, as if Kai were the dumbest person alive.

"I—that's not appropriate," he whispered, glad for the darkness in the hallway to hide his embarrassment. "What if someone catches us as we come out?"

"You're the Emperor of a _country_!" he whispered back. "You can do whatever you want."

"People talk, Thorne."

"I'm sure these people are just _dying_ to tell all their friends that they're hosting Emperor Kaito and Princess Selene at their house."

Kai drew in a breath. "Good point."

"And Wolf will be able to hear you so whatever you say won't really be private anyway."

"You should have stopped at that last line."

"Probably."

Drawing in another breath, he left Thorne in the hallway and opened the door to the room, where Cinder stood with her arms crossed right at the entrance. Wolf was a huddled mass of blankets on floor, his face covered too. Telling Cinder he wanted some privacy with her, she followed him into the bathroom.

He squinted at the sudden onslaught of light, but when his eyes adjusted and landed on Cinder's face, he softened. She was attractive even after just having woken up. Offering her a smile, Kai slid down the wall of the bathroom near the tub and held out his arm. Cinder joined him quickly, resting her head on his shoulder.

He was tired of trying to be appropriate. Here in the bathroom, they were once again just Kai and Cinder. There were no titles or missions or planets separating them in this space, so he just drew her closer and pressed his lips to her forehead. "Stars, I missed you."

She was silent for three beats. "Soon we won't see each other for even longer."

"Don't talk about that now. We'll have all day to talk about it with the others."

Her chest heaved up and down once, her sigh drawing her closer into his arms. "I missed you too, Kai. I didn't want to leave the tunnel. I'm sorry we did."

"Hey," he said softly. "We left too. I was injured and Thorne was blind—"

"I know. There was nothing either of us could do. It wasn't the choice I would have made for myself, though."

"Maybe once this is over we'll finally be able to think about what we want for once, instead of what's best for everyone else."

She drew back to search his eyes. "You really believe that?"

He tilted his head against the wall and closed his eyes. He had been ignorant about the full breadth of Levana's capacity to inflict harm before. No longer unaware or willing to ignore the facts, he decided to at least err on the side of being positive. "I have to believe it can get better than this. And look at all those people supporting you."

Cinder let out a laugh. "They support _Princess Selene_. I still don't know exactly who that is."

"Sometimes being a leader is just about being able to unite people to stand together for a cause. You've definitely got the qualities to do that, Selene."

"Don't call me that."

"Fine with me. Sounds weird to say anyway."

He rubbed her arms and leaned back against her head, cherishing every second he had with her. Maybe times like this would get him through his time with Levana. She drew back though, and he furrowed his brow as she stared up at him quizzically.

"Kai, since we're alone here…I thought maybe…" She gulped and averted her eyes. "It's just, we haven't seen each other in a few days. And we both thought we were dead…"

Kai was quite enjoying the way she was avoiding saying what he knew she wanted to say. He wished he could make her blush, but he decided that her squirming was probably her version of it. "Yes…?"

"I guess I thought you were going to…give me a reunion kiss?" He raised his eyebrow intentionally; she began to backpedal—fast. "I'm surprised, that's all. When you asked me to go into the bathroom, I wasn't thinking that's what you wanted, but we did kiss on the Rampion a few times, and I was starting to get used to it. And here we are finally alone. Oh stars, not that I need you to kiss me—but how often are we really going to be alone? Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed—"

Kai shut up her adorable, flustered speech by closing the space between them with his lips. But as they connected, a surge of guilt shot through him and he pulled back abruptly. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice coming out too high-pitched. "I thought I could but I—I can't."

The hurt on her face was crushing. He wanted to wipe it away, to pull her into him, but she was scooting away from him on the bathroom floor. Cinder, the only person who had been willing to be open and vulnerable with him, was scooting away from him on the bathroom floor, creating distance.

"It's not you," he tried. "It's me."

"I don't understand."

Thorne was right, he had to tell her or it would eat away at him. Levana had put enough distance between them already, he wouldn't let Fay do the same. "We said no more secrets. So I guess you should know."

"Know what?"

"Something…happened. With Royer."

"Did you sustain more injuries? Did he reveal your identity?"

Kai shook his head. "No. He didn't figure out who I was."

"So what is it? And what does this have to do with us?"

His voice strangled in his throat. "Royer had a daughter. She had a friend. They forced us to—I had to—kiss her." Cinder's eyes narrowed. He let his head bang helplessly into the wall again, sending a splitting pain into his forehead where the rock had hit him. "We were trapped. I—we couldn't think of anything else to do."

"Glamour?" asked Cinder quietly.

He closed his eyes, and the worst of it came tumbling out. "Only in the beginning. We convinced them that they were better off if they let us be ourselves. It was Thorne's idea and it worked. It's probably the only reason we managed to escape."

"So they were going to—?"

"Yeah."

His eyes snapped open when she punched her fist hard into the ground, causing a loud clunk to echo across the tiled floor. He gulped. "I know. I'm sorry. I feel like—like I cheated on you. Thorne said it's not like that, but that's how it'll be with Levana too. That's how it is. I'm still technically _engaged,_ Cinder! You have every right to be mad."

Cinder looked up at him, her eyes glinting. " _Mad_? Mad doesn't even begin to cover it, Kai! Now I have even more reason to hunt them down. Cress will figure out where they live based on your hover route and the names that you _will_ give me. And then when I'm queen I will find them _. I will make them pay_." She paused, tilting her head. "Maybe even before that. If they're not thaumaturges, we could send Wolf."

Kai laughed nervously, but his feelings of despair began to dissipate. She was mad at _them,_ not him. "You don't hate me?"

The glint left Cinder's eyes and she scooted back towards him. "Of course not."

He reached for her again, opening his arms once more. When Cinder hugged him this time, his panic subsided, bringing him to a renewed sense of peace. He wasn't completely over everything that had happened yet, but Cinder forgiving him was the biggest thing he had worried about. If she could be okay with it, maybe he could stay strong and keep it in.

At least, until they both in power again. He hugged her harder, the fantasy developing in his mind. When they took down Levana, he would support the imprisonment of Fay, Elara, and Royer. Maybe he would even look the other way and allow them to endure a little torture of their own. He was not a violent man by nature, but she was right—there needed to be punishment.

He shook his head and leaned more into Cinder, letting the thought vanish.

He would be a benevolent ruler.

He would not become Levana.

* * *

"We're going to need to move the Emperor, the Princess, and the Captain to a more discrete location underground," Garrison declared.

It was barely six in the morning, and Wolf's parents had collected everyone much earlier than expected—Wolf and Thorne from the spare room, and to their surprise, Kai and Cinder from the bathroom. Kai saw Thorne grin out of the corner of his eye, sure that he was appreciating the recognition of his title.

His title which was still fake. Maybe when they were done with this whole ordeal he would give Thorne the official rank of Captain in the Eastern Commonwealth—that is, if he was able to keep him out of prison. Kai hoped that President Vargas would be willing to pardon someone who'd been integral in overthrowing Levana. There were no guarantees, though. Thorne's criminal record was not short.

"Ze'ev is coming with us too," said Cinder.

"We had hoped he would stay here," Eira confessed.

Wolf frowned. "No. I'm going with Cinder. We have plans that need to be executed."

"We won't be able to get away much," said Abbott, taking Eira's hand. "I think your mother is worried we won't see you anymore."

"Our plans include saving Scarlet. She is my priority." Though they had already discussed a rough version of how to get Scarlet back yesterday, Wolf's voice came out a bit harsh. His mother looked at Abbott for help, but Garrison cut both of them off. "The Operative is right. We will need him for further discussions of this supposed _plan_."

"We're saving Scarlet, end of story," said Wolf.

"We'll see," said Sebastian.

Kai wasn't sure to what to make of him. Young and quiet, he did more talking with his eyes than his mouth. When he spoke, however, he spoke with authority. Garrison Clay had not told them about all of their ranks, but Kai imagined that he was second in command of whatever their group consisted of.

"Let's just get to where we need to go," said Cinder.

"I'm still waiting to see that Cress is okay," added Thorne, crossing his arms.

Eira frowned at him. "My son is taking care of her. There's no need to worry."

Thorne furrowed his brow and Wolf rolled his eyes. "My mother"—he gave her a pointed look—"thinks that I'm dating Cress." He turned to Eira. "Which I've already explained, Mom. I'm with _Scarlet_."

Eira shushed him but Thorne burst out laughing, slapping his knee as if the funniest joke in the world had been told. A smile played on Cinder's lips, but no one else showed any emotion. Thorne recovered, but still looked at Eira like she was crazy. "Trust me, this guy's obsessed with Scarlet. I'm sure you're going to be a proud grandmother of little wolf cubs someday."

"Thorne!" said Cinder scandalously as Eira and Wolf both flushed.

"I say we leave both of them here and just bring the Emperor and the Princess," Sebastian suggested to Garrison and Florencia. Florencia smirked the way she had yesterday, making him want to scowl.

"Can we just go?" asked Kai. It was starting to feel way too crowded.

"We'll divide into groups," said Garrison. "I want the Operative with the Emperor." He pointed at Florencia. "You'll accompany them to our meeting point. Princess Selene and the Captain will go with Sebastian. Eira, Abbot, and I will go about our regular business and rejoin you when we are able to get away without suspicion."

He continued barking out orders, and soon Kai and Wolf were shuffled into a separate room with Florencia without even having the chance to say goodbye to the others.

"Very well," she said. "Lunars primarily take the subway to get around, since there are flying restrictions. In this sector, we don't have much reason to use the subway except for work. This is the manufacturing sector, though, so we usually stay put and keep to ourselves. As long as production is running smoothly, we're mostly left alone. There are guards stationed at various posts to keep us in line—Levana's orders. Sometimes they do spontaneous raids. This is the main reason we need to get you out of the Kesley household as soon as possible. Who knows what they have deciphered from the podship you so foolishly left at the broken port."

"What did you want us to do?" asked Kai.

"Think, Emperor," she said, huffing. "Don't even get me started on you," she said to Wolf. He ignored her, casting his stern look into the distance instead. "We're going back to Garrison's house before all the light is turned on to signify daybreak." She checked her port. "We only have seventeen minutes. Let's go."

They crept through a strange tangle of houses and shrubbery until they reached their destination. Kai got the distinct impression that he and Thorne had missed out on a lot yesterday, as Wolf had no trouble figuring out where to go. Then again, he _did_ have wolf instincts.

The safe house was almost identical to the Kesleys' in size and design, though the walls were painted differently. Kai asked if Wolf and Jacin had therefore known each other as children, but Wolf shook his head. "The Clays used to live right outside Artimesia because Garrison was a palace guard."

Florencia led them into the kitchen and opened the pantry. "Hungry?" she asked, winking at him.

Kai cleared his throat. "Uh—no, thank you."

"Stop messing around, Florencia," said Wolf.

Grumbling, she moved around some boxes of food—all stamped with _Inspected in AR 7, Verified_ in shimmery letters that matched Florencia's strange body glitter—revealing a small patterned design in the wall. It looked like a royal crest, but nothing like what they used in the Eastern Commonwealth.

"Watch." Florencia pressed different parts of the crest, and then they vanished into the wall. Then she put her hands in the holes and turned them to the right. There was a clanking noise, and Florencia withdrew her hand. The cupboard wall shifted and pulled away into the wall, leaving a narrow entrance of darkness in its wake.

Kai stared. "How long has this been here?"

"Since Garrison moved here."

She bowed grandly, mock ushering Kai into the entrance. "After you, Emperor." It was clear she had no respect for his title nor him.

Kai didn't even bother to give her a politically correct smile. He stepped inside and felt his way forward to make room for the others, but was swallowed by the darkness. For a moment he was panicked again, the feeling of rocks crashing around him coming back to him as if he were in the tunnel again. He took a deep breath and focused on the beam of light still streaming in from the kitchen. Wolf joined him next, his massive presence taking up most of the tight space, and Florencia slipped in afterward. She waved her hand and little stars illuminated on the inside near the entrance, and she pushed them. The pantry swung shut behind her and more blackness enveloped them.

Florencia switched a light on from her portscreen, making her sparkle in the dark. "If you need to escape, find these stars. It's the only way out into this side of the sector."

"Are we likely to have a need to escape?" asked Kai.

"Just precaution," said Wolf. "These tunnels connect to lava tubes and underground caves that are used for manufacturing work. It's possible that someone will discover a way into them."

"It's more likely someone will discover us entering or exiting," she said.

"Got it," said Kai, though he didn't feel like he got it at all.

She held up the light from her port and shone it forward. "Follow me."

Florencia went first, then Kai, with Wolf bringing up the rear. Unlike the uneven tunnels that he'd weaved his way through shakily with Thorne on his arm, the path they took was smooth and easy. It winded and descended, but it was meticulously cared for. There was no hint of crumbling rock, decay, or construction.

"Socialization after hours is highly discouraged, which is why we believe the curfew was initially instated. Her Majesty doesn't encourage any possibility of rebellion, to say the least." The way she spat _Her Majesty_ gave Kai a small amount of joy. "She thinks she's so smart. Sadly, she is. Cunning as a snake, she slithers her way into everyone's business. But what she doesn't realize is that many of us are smart too. We built most of these caves and tunnels. While she spends her time in the palace trying to impress the Artemisian Court, we're busy working. We've invested years into getting to where we are today. This is how we gather."

"It's impressive," said Wolf. "Just wait."

"We should be there in three turns. Try to remember where we're going, Emperor, as there are many deviations from the route that will take you to dead ends instead." Her voice went syrupy sweet. "One could go _mad_ trying to find the way out."

Kai ignored her and continued to watch where he was going, trying to pay attention to the walls. When they had passed three more turns, the narrow tunnel opened into a big cave with three different tunnels connected to it. Wolf stopped them both and went to each one, sniffing around him. "Looks clear."

"It better be," Kai muttered to himself, remembering the last time they'd taken a fork in a tunnel. _That_ had ended in disaster.

Florencia and Wolf walked to the tunnel to the right of the cave and Kai followed. After twenty paces in, Wolf stopped and knelt to the ground.

"Good," said Florencia. "It only took you one day to memorize the stop. Emperor, pay attention."

"Your Majesty would be fine," he said, in his own version of her syrupy voice.

She shone the light in his eyes in return. When the red spots had flickered out of his vision and he could see again, he saw Wolf feeling a spot where the rock wall connected with the ground. "Here," said Wolf, "have a look, Your Majesty." Kai squatted down and squinted. There was a small knob, barely visible, that protruded from the ground like a piece of debris the size of a pinky. "Press down."

Kai pushed. The wall in front of him moved, almost silently,and Kai quickly moved his wall shifted forward as if on a hinge, and soon there was another secret passageway before them.

"Quickly now," said Florencia, shoving them in.

The door snapped shut, but this time the darkness didn't overwhelm him. Instead, the dark cave lit up like a starry night. Instead of stars, though, there was illuminated writing all over the walls. Kai approached the wall closest to them, running his hand over it. Florencia and Wolf watched him read.

They were names. Scribbled everywhere in translucent scrawl, names shone around him. Florencia's skin was barely visible compared to how strong it was. Some were brighter than others and some had symbols around them.

"Are these…?"

"Those taken from us against our will. In whatever shape or form. We record all those who are lost." She pointed to the brightest scribbling with hundreds of names on the opposite wall. "Those are the newest additions to her army, her child soldiers. You think they're coming from Artemisia? They're all from the outer sectors, where she thinks we'll remain weak and silent."

Kai inhaled deeply, overwhelmed by all the names. Those half-men, half-beasts he'd seen in the early holograms of Levana's army used to be part of someone's family. The soldiers that were attacking Earth now used to be someone's children. What had Levana done to them to make them become what they were now? And how many more would be added before it was all over?

He glanced at Wolf, who seemed lost in thought. Was his name somewhere on this wall?

"This is how we remember," she said. "This is how we remind ourselves it's worth it to resist her."


	31. Chapter 31

Thorne hurried through the tunnel to catch up to Cinder and Sebastian. His companions walked confidently, of course: one had clearly spent part of his lifetime weaving his way around these dark twists and turns and the other was a cyborg who could memorize anything she wanted with the portscreen in her head. Furthermore, he was pretty sure that Cinder could see in the dark. He was the only one who had no idea where he was going.

To say that he was getting a little annoyed of the power imbalance between Lunars and Earthens was the understatement of the year. Everything about being on the moon reminded him that he was out of his element. Being with Kai had at least given him an opportunity to show his worth. He was not useless. He was integral to this mission.

Or was he?

He spent half of his time walking thinking about Cress and the other half thinking about how he would be in his right mind to desert them all. He had no place up on the moon.

Just like Cress.

Maybe they could both leave. The thought nearly made him laugh out loud. He was still a wanted criminal. He was still no hero. Why would Cress ever go anywhere with him? And leaving now would prove him the biggest coward of all. No one liked cowards.

Cress had chosen to risk her life and save the Emperor despite her circumstances. She was selfless. She was kind. _She_ was the hero.

And that was all there was to it.

"You know, Cinder," he said. "I've been thinking about this whole tiara thing. Are you sure you want to rule this rock? I've been here a few days so far and Luna is hardly what it's cracked up to be." Sebastian gave him a sneer over his shoulder. "No offense, Sebas. Can I call you Sebas? It's got a nice ring to it."

Cinder's arm looped around his, making him nearly collide with her. "I'm sure there's more to Luna than the two houses you've seen so far," she said loudly, then dropped her voice to a whisper. "Stop saying dumb things. They're putting a lot of faith and resources into backing me right now and I need them to believe in me so they'll believe in the cause."

"Sure thing, princess," he quipped back.

When they reached a strange conglomeration of tunnels, Sebastian came to an abrupt halt. "We have several different entrances that lead to the main hub of our base. The Emperor and the Operative should have reached it by now, but we'll come from the back."

"Isn't it easier to find if you have different entrances?" asked Thorne.

"On the contrary. The different entrances provide us more chances to escape in case there were a breach. But not to worry, this part of the tunnel shouldn't be accessible by civilians or Lunar guards."

"You hope," Thorne muttered, only to receive a firm poke from Cinder.

Sebastian leapt into the air and grabbed onto a ledge that stuck out from the top of the tunnel. He swung his legs about, but it was hard to tell from the ground what he was doing precisely. Much to his dismay, Thorne's eyes still hadn't improved much since he'd gotten his sight back. He squinted, but Sebastian was already back on the ground, the wall melting away in front of him like a door. He offered Sebastian an appreciative nod and stepped inside.

Light momentarily blinded him, but it was not from sunlight or moonlight or anything natural. He blinked and moved around the room, squinting again. The closest thing he could compare it to was the Rampion's cockpit controls. But instead of one set of controls, panel after panel lined the walls.

"Is this…?"

"Their tech base," said Cinder. "It's kind of like the biggest netscreen processor imaginable."

"But how…?"

"We're the ones that work and create," said Sebastian. "We decided a long time ago that it was time to create something for ourselves."

"You can probably guess that Cress has been having fun," she said, a knowing smile playing on her lips. She nudged him again. "You'll see."

Thorne swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. Cress was here.

Sebastian nodded curtly at them. "I've got something I've got to take care of for the Captain, but I trust Princess Selene will give you the official tour."

"What are you…?" but his words died on his lips, the young rebel already taking off in one direction.

Cinder broke into a grin. "This place is incredible. They've been hacking into Artemisian feeds for years, trying to learn what they could. They know about things that have happened on Earth and in the palace that the rest of the Lunar population doesn't. Levana likes to keep everything tightly regulated so there's no room to question her. She's wrong, of course, but they don't think she knows yet. And now that Cress is here—well, a lot of the encryption in place was from her work under Sybil."

Thorne whistled. "Nice."

"With her here, they'll be able to take down even more encrypted firewalls. Maybe they can really infiltrate the palace's net for good now." She bit her lip. "I hope she can figure out why I haven't been able to communicate with Iko either."

"Is your brain malfunctioning?"

"It's not my brain, thank you very much, but the complex wiring," she said, sticking out her tongue. He was about to make a retort but Cinder's frown cut him off. "By the way, no one knows about Cress' parents, so don't bring up Dr. Erland. She said she's not ready to start investigating who her mother is, though I doubt with her hacking skills she wouldn't be able to figure it out immediately if she wanted to."

Thorne thought about the dying doctor, telling him that he would never deserve his daughter. "Her mother abandoned her willingly. Makes sense she wouldn't want to find her." He doubted that Cress felt safe on Luna with the way she had been treated. The thought of deserting flitted into his mind again, but he just cocked his head to the right. "Can I see Cress now?"

Cinder nodded, but held up her hand. "She was really worried about you, Thorne. Try to be sensitive."

Thorne patted her head. "Don't you worry your little cyborg mind now. Wouldn't want to make that complex wiring malfunction even more."

She shrugged him off and urged him forward. They walked silently, Thorne taking in the massive cave-like room with all the blinking equipment, and Cinder chattering about her last two days with the Lunar rebels. "Oh," she suddenly said, interrupting herself. "I haven't found the right time to tell Kai this yet, but…there's been talk in the news of certain political groups trying to overthrow him while he's been missing."

Thorne sucked in a breath. "You couldn't have told him that in the bathroom?"

Her face fell even as an embarrassed look came over her. "He'll be devastated. And while we're still waiting for Cress to dig up some information, I don't want to worry him with anything else right now. He really loves the Commonwealth and his people. Garrison agreed to let me tell him."

"What kind of information is Cress looking for?"

Cinder's eyes darted around suspiciously before she lowered her voice again. "The rebels just think she's helping their tech guy bring down the Artemisian firewalls. Wolf and I tasked her privately with also corroborating their story. We need more information on Garrison, Jacin, and Princess Winter. If they're all so benevolent, then why did Winter take Scarlet for glamour practice?"

Finally. Someone else was just as suspicious as he was. Cinder had done a great job back at the Kesley house making him feel paranoid. At least she had finally learned how to act a bit. "Good."

"Okay, here we go," she said, winking at him. "Time to see Cress."

Anticipation bubbled up inside him, eating away at his stomach and making him want to keel over. He was about to see her—for real this time. Without a netscreen between them, without a blindfold. He remembered massive amounts of frazzled hair from her years of imprisonment, her tear-stained eyes as she laid on the ground bound and gagged, and the way her hands flew over the controls as the satellite plummeted toward the Earth.

He wiped his hands, suddenly sweaty, against his pants and plastered on a look of confidence and calm. The last time she had seen him on the Rampion, he'd treated her badly. His stupid back-and-forth feelings had probably made him seem like such a loser. If only he could have come to the same conclusions back then as he had while attempting to seduce Elara.

Maybe things could have been different.

Thorne was not one to dwell on his mistakes. He'd given her weird signals the whole time on the Rampion. That last day, he hadn't been able to talk to her about whatever it was he was battling with internally. She'd fallen on top of him when he'd attempted to hug her, and it was _he_ who had pushed her away. Not easily—he would have given anything to bury his hands in her hair and draw her into him.

But it would have been wrong. Cress hadn't fallen in love with the real Carswell Thorne. It had just been an idealization of himself, and when he'd asked her if she still loved him despite all his flaws, she'd just remained silent. Kai and Cinder had both said that if he could just _see_ then he would know she liked him too.

Now was probably a really great time to desert.

But they turned the corner, and then they were in a smaller room, with two cots in the corner folded up neatly, and a giant netscreen, and more controls, and a guy, and distinct humming that warmed his soul, and…

_Cress._

_She was so tiny_ , was his first thought. Sitting with her back to them and typing up a storm, he saw her blonde hair: short and barely reaching her neck. She wore some sort of baggy outfit that he couldn't quite make out, but he stopped walking and took a deep breath.

"Someone's here to see you, Cress!" called Cinder.

The humming stopped. Cress turned in her chair, stared for a second at what he could only imagine was his own dumbfounded stare, and then she shrieked and jumped up, the brightest smile he'd ever seen lighting up her face. "Captain! You're okay!"

She was a blur as she ran the few meters that were between them and threw herself at him, but he was ready and waiting. Catching her in his arms, he spun her around and hugged her close to him until her face was right in front of his. One arm firmly holding her up by her waist, he used his free hand to tuck some of her hair behind her ear. "Let me see you."

"You—you can see again?"

He nodded, grinning, and her smile turned shy as he studied her intently. With her so close, there was no way he could miss a single detail.

Piercing blue eyes. Cute pink lips. Thin eyebrows. Button nose. Flushed cheeks against pale skin. Cropped hair that framed her face like a heart. Just a little bit of static cling and unkemptness at the top, probably from lack of sleep. Unending freckles that peppered her face. A smile that was infectious.

 _Stars_ , was she perfect.

"So…what do you think?" she said, chewing on her lip nervously.

"Aces," he said quietly, unable to tear his gaze away from her. "I want to memorize you."

_Wait._

Had he just blurted that out? He dropped her hastily and cleared his throat.

Loudly.

So loudly that he started coughing and had to compose himself. "This regolith dust really gets to you, doesn't it? I meant, I want to memorize you in case I ever go blind again, of course. Gotta make sure I don't forget that cute little nose." He tweaked it with two fingers and put on a charming grin. "Let's not make this whole _you-disappearing-and-making-me-find-you_ thing a common occurrence."

Though she still smiled, she looked a little confused, and all the while his mind was screaming _no, no, no, no, no, you idiot!_ He was never going to say anything if he kept this up. He had to suck it up and say something or his reputation would be ruined forever. He tried to clear his thoughts and come up with something coherent and smooth—but not sappy and lovelorn—to say, but footsteps interrupted his train of thought.

Of course, they were not alone. How could he have forgotten? Cinder was still only a few steps away and the guy walking towards them slowly was the one he'd just casually passed over when he'd spotted Cress. Probably about seventeen or eighteen, he had dark, tan skin like many of Thorne's old acquaintances in L.A. He wore a snug T-shirt that showed off arms covered in tattoos. An eyebrow piercing shone against the light and a lip ring curled up as the guy smiled confidently at the two of them. He was not exactly ugly.

"So, I take it this is the infamous Captain Thorne, eh Cress?"

Cress nodded and took a step away from Thorne towards the guy. "Darragh, meet Captain Thorne."

"Hey," said Darragh, reaching out to shake Thorne's hand.

"Hello." Thorne wondered if he wore a glamour too. Did Cress see the same things he did?

"Darragh is the tech specialist here in the resistance," Cress explained, growing excited. "He's been risking his life to work underground with them since he was fourteen!"

He folded his arms and grinned proudly. "Cress and I have been at it all night. We have all the equipment"—he gestured around at the room—"but I don't know how to do everything. I've been really glad for her help."

"They're using some of my original coding, Thorne!"

Darragh put an arm around her shoulders. "Cress is amazing. The things she can do just leave me in awe." He dropped his arm and mock-worshipped her, kneeling in front of her like she was a goddess.

As her blush deepened, Thorne stiffened. "I know she's amazing."

"Maybe," said Darragh, getting up from the ground. "But you can't really appreciate it all, can you? I heard you're pretty bad with technology."

He winked at Cress as if they had some inside joke, and Thorne just stood there, feeling like an idiot, trying to think of something to say. What exactly had Cress told Darragh about him if he even knew that detail? Had they laughed at his expense last night while coding together? And how had Cress come to trust him and open up to him in just two days?

Cress shushed Darragh and said quickly, "I didn't say that. Darragh's embellishing." She looked beyond Thorne to Cinder and beckoned her over. "Is Kai here too? Is everyone safe?"

"Yeah," said Thorne dryly, "we're all fine."

"I can't wait to hear about it, Captain. We have so much to catch up on!"

As if on cue, Kai and Wolf strode in the room, followed by Sebastian and Florencia. Cress ran to Kai and hugged him fiercely too.

 _Of course she would hug him too_ , he thought. _You're not the only one who was missing, Thorne._

When Darragh had been introduced to Kai as well, Sebastian pulled something out of his jacket pocket. Thorne grimaced when he recognized what it was and wished he could have glamoured Sebastian into turning around and going back to wherever he came from.

"Here we go, Captain," said Sebastian. "Got those glasses for you as Garrison requested." He held out a pair of square, wired frames. "They're probably not the exact prescription you need, but they should do for now."

Thorne took them hastily and shoved them into his own pockets. The gesture was met with a collective protest.

"Come on, Thorne, you can't see everything!" said Cinder.

"Wait, you need glasses?" said Cress.

"You should at least try them on, Captain," said Kai.

Darragh, however, just laughed. "Oh man, that sucks."

Thorne ignored them all and brushed past Wolf and Florencia, who hadn't bothered to join all the chatter. "I'm going to check out the rest of this place," he said. "I'll be back soon."

Only when he was safely around a corner and away from them did he pull out the glasses and examine them. They were black and square and ugly. Scowling, he tried them on.

_Stupid Lunars._


	32. Chapter 32

Cress blinked—one, two, three times and then collected herself. Her eyes trailed Thorne's back as he walked toward the corridor. She smoothed down her hair as fast as she could before he had a chance to turn around again. How she wished she had a mirror in which to see her own reflection. She feared that her impression on Thorne now had been similar to the first and only time he'd seen her.

She was sure she still looked like a mess.

She'd stayed up all night with Darragh and she was exhausted. Her eyes were probably rimmed with red, the way they'd always been in the satellite when she'd stayed up too late binge-watching dramas or playing games with Little Cress. Caught up in her mission with Darragh, she'd twirled the strands of her short hair until the ends were frizzed. It was a hard habit to break whenever she hacked. And with just Darragh around, it hadn't mattered that she was wearing the hand-me-down pants and over-sized shirt she'd received from Eira. The only thing it did to flatter her figure was hide her bloated stomach after snacking all night.

If only she had known that she'd see Thorne. She had tried to look her best on the Rampion, just in case his eyesight came back earlier, but luck had not been on her side. He probably still saw the little girl with the crazy hair in the netscreen.

And what had he said to her exactly? _Aces_ , just like last time, but then something about memorizing something. Her heart had been beating too loudly in her ears from the sudden shock of seeing him and being spun around as though the two of them were in a romantic drama. Pressed against him, her thoughts had jumbled once more when he'd tucked a strand of hair behind her hair and asked to look at her. But then the way his lips had curved upward in a smile had fascinated her, and then a lock of his brown hair had nearly fallen into his dreamy eyes. It had been hard to focus.

His dreamy eyes were _healed_. Thorne was going to be okay.

But when Thorne didn't turn around or come back, she tried to hide her disappointment in front of the rest of group. "Where is he going?"

"Just to take a look around, I think," said Kai, but his tone did not convince her. She wanted to run after him, but Kai stepped forward and gave her another hug instead. "It's wonderful to see you again, Cress. I was worried about you. _All_ of you."

Worried was not the right adjective to describe how Cress had felt since they'd been separated. _Utterly destroyed_ was a more accurate description. Her acting skills had been quite pathetic since landing on Luna. If there had been a real audience judging her ability to hide her emotions, they would have booed her performance. Now that they were back—and safe!—she tried to do a better job at keeping her thoughts to herself. "What happened? Where did you go?"

"It's a long story. We can talk about it later, when the five of us are alone." He glanced around the room until his eyes landed on Sebastian. "We are going to have some time to be alone and regroup, aren't we? Yesterday was rather overwhelming, if I may be so bold."

"Not to worry, Your Majesty," said Sebastian. "You will all stay here at the base tonight for your own protection. We can't risk bringing you above ground again until it's time."

His voice still exuded authority, but it had become much calmer and kinder in the last two days that Wolf, Cinder, and Cress had spent with him. She was no longer afraid of him or his connection with Garrison and Jacin. She had spent her night bringing down firewalls with Darragh and she was eager to share her discoveries. Some news, however, was less exciting than others.

"Cress?" asked Darragh, almost reading her thoughts. "We should probably talk to the Emperor about what's happening on Earth."

Kai's brow furrowed at the same time that Cinder shot a stern look in Darragh's direction. Cress wanted to do the same. She had told Darragh all about Cinder and Kai during their all-nighter and she had expected him to keep it to himself—particularly because Cinder had wanted to be the one to break the news to Kai.

Seeing her look, Darragh grimaced. "Sorry. I think it's better if he knows."

"What's going on?" asked Kai. "What have you learned?"

"Kai, it's probably—" Cinder started, but Darragh cut her off.

"The Eastern Commonwealth has been hit hard. In the last few days, the soldiers have mounted an attack on New Beijing Palace." Darragh walked to his monitor and typed in some commands. Cress wrung her hands behind her back, already feeling sorry for Kai. "Look at the feeds that have been sent back to Artemisia Palace."

Cress had seen it more than once already, but she watched it unfold again through the horror on Kai's face. Cinder's hand found its way to his, like she could protect him from it, but he shrugged her off.

"Some groups are calling for your forced abdication," said Cinder.

They all waited for Kai to react. Cress wasn't sure why she expected him to get angry and throw something, but his face changed to a stony, impassive neutral. He paced the small space between the group and the netscreens. Cress teetered on her toes, waiting.

"I need to talk to Torin," he finally said. "Cress, do you have a secure connection?"

Cress shook her head. "There's no way to have a secure connection without a D-Comm chip. We can alter coding, tap into netlinks, program software to do our bidding at specific times, and divert information to our accounts. But sending out messages is a whole different game."

"But all that time in the satellite, Cress. All those years coding." He waved at the netscreens. "This is supposed to be _your_ work."

"Most of it is," said Darragh. "But that doesn't mean that she's stupid enough to send out messages that can't be secure just so she can get caught and end up in the satellite _again_."

Cress had told him about her time there as well, considering that it was her coding that had put the Lunar rebels back years in their attempts to hack into Queen Levana's files. Though he wasn't quite a Shell like her, Darragh was ungifted enough to understand oppression from Lunars with glamour. Unable to function without ridicule in society, he had taken technology as his best friend.

Granted, he wasn't _quite_ as good as her, but his flattery made up for it. Cress wondered now if she would have discovered the existence of the Lunar rebels if she had bothered to look into Lunar feeds more often. She had stopped following them a long time ago when she saw that they were only the Queen's propaganda. Maybe if she had looked closer, she could have seen some of Darragh's work attempting to crack the underlying coding. Now that she knew what his signature style was, it would be easy to detect in the future.

"It's not just that," said Cress. "When I began coding, we needed a closer range to get information on Earth. Our information here is coming from Artemisia's internal reports, not Earth. I think that Torin already knows what's going on, though. There were reports sent back to Artemisia that the Rampion landed in the Eastern Commonwealth. Darragh and I think that it might be why they're attacking the palace. Queen Levana might think you're purposefully hiding or that Cinder is keeping you hostage there."

"Oh stars," said Kai. He ran his hands through his hair. "No wonder they want to overthrow me! Everyone probably think I'm a coward who just lets his people die for him."

Cinder cringed. "It's my fault. It was my plan to kidnap you. And I'm the one who made you give Iko specific instructions to talk to Torin. I wasn't able to establish a connection with Iko either." She hung her head, which made Kai soften a little. "On the bright side, maybe Torin knows now? Maybe he'll send help."

"I only thought that Torin would get that message if we were literally dead."

"Sounds like you and Thorne got pretty close to it," said Wolf.

"Kai, I'm sure Torin and the staff have been evacuated," said Cinder.

"What about everyone else?" asked Kai. "I'm tired of being helpless! I thought joining up with you Lunars was supposed to help." He glared at Sebastian and Florencia. It was an unpleasant look on him and made Cress want to shrink back. The two Lunars didn't even blink an eye.

"We always knew it would get worse before it got better," said Wolf.

"And your time is coming," said Cinder, her voice straining to be soothing. "Maybe you haven't been able to, uh, _contribute_ as much as you would have liked up until now, but you're the key to making all this work. We just need more time to sort it all out."

"No," said Kai. "No more waiting. We need to stop these attacks now. Let's do it tomorrow."

Cress gasped. "Tomorrow? But you just got here!"

"Kai," Cinder tried.

"I've made my decision," said Kai.

Sebastian cleared his throat behind them. "Unfortunately, Your Majesties, we'll need to bring this possible change in plans in front of Garrison and the rest of the group first. Since it involves everyone on Luna, we can't just make one brash decision based on feelings."

"Who are you to decide how I'm going to lead my country?" asked Kai, rounding on Sebastian.

Cress raised her hand tentatively. "Can I add something that might be helpful?"

Kai raised an eyebrow to her, one that told her to make it quick. She had gotten used to his gentler demeanor on the Rampion, so now she nervously pulled up a screen of her own that housed some of the tabs she hadn't yet shared with Darragh.

"I did verify that Garrison Clay was a long-time friend of Evret Hayle." She shrugged. "It wasn't hard, really. The union between Levana and Evret was documented well. Evret's witness was Garrison Clay."

"Doesn't prove anything," said Kai. "Just that both of them could have been in league with Levana."

"I did find something else. Lunars don't like to keep photographs, but I was able to find a newspaper article that had a likeliness of Solstice Hayle, Evret's first wife, when she opened up a dress shop in AR-5." Cress clicked on the second tab, revealing the article.

"Wait…" said Kai, staring intently. Cress nodded, having expected that reaction. She waited for everyone else to make the connection.

"Are you sure that's…?" asked Cinder.

"It's Solstice Hayle." Cress clicked on the fourth tab, which was a painting of Queen Levana.

Darragh whistled. "That's news to me too. Excellent work, Cress."

"It's uncanny," said Kai. "Are you trying to tell us that they're related?"

"No," said Sebastian. "She's trying to tell you that Queen Levana's glamour looks just like Solstice Hayle. Levana's changed a few features here and there, but Garrison can recall when she first started imitating Solstice. She was only sixteen back then and he was still a palace guard. Levana thought it would make Evret forget about Solstice after she died. The entire story is disturbing."

Cress wondered what Levana _really_ looked like and what had driven her to take on the appearance of someone else. She had never seen the Lunar Queen in person, but if she looked anything like Solstice Hayle, then she could understand why she was known to be so beautiful. But Cress would never see her that way. She shuddered, thinking what she might see instead.

"She's sick," said Florencia to Kai. "Selene will need the outer sectors when she starts her revolution. You need us behind _you_ when you present yourself to the Queen. We're going to speak to the rest of the group today."

"I think it would be for the best, Kai," said Cinder.

"Fine," said Wolf definitively, as it were just his decision alone. "We can discuss it more later. In the meantime, what have you found out about Scarlet, Cress?"

"There was no record of her after the trial." Wolf's eyes narrowed but she held up her hand. "Therefore, Darragh and I searched for information about Princess Winter and we were able to pinpoint a location. Darragh, can you show them the footage from the menagerie?"

"Menagerie?" asked Kai.

Cress looked worriedly at Wolf. "It's like an exhibit or display of animals."

"Yes, I know _what_ a menagerie is. How is that relevant?"

She didn't want to break the news to Wolf. "Um…Darragh?"

He nodded and soon the netscreens were showing the footage they had recovered the night before. It showed Scarlet being marched into the Princess's personal menagerie while the guards laughed and taunted her. He zoomed in on Scarlet and though the pixels weren't perfect, it was obvious that she was dirty, exhausted, and miserable. "Everyone knows that Princess likes to keep pets. When we couldn't find any trace of her anywhere else, I thought this might be the best place to look."

Wolf slammed his fists on the table, eyes blazing. "Show me the rest of the footage. _Now._ "

Darragh sprang to his feet, his piercing crinkling into his creased brow. "Watch the equipment. This stuff isn't cheap and we don't have time to find a replacement if you break it."

"There isn't any more footage of Scarlet." Cress clicked on another tab with a blueprint of the menagerie. "This is timestamped from six days ago. We've seen Winter come in and out since she arrived, but Scarlet hasn't come out…so we're guessing she's somewhere in there."

Darragh pointed to the back of the menagerie in the blueprint.

"Are those…cages?" Wolf asked, fuming at the sight of the blueprint.

"Shouldn't you be used to those, being the animal that you are?" The chipper voice startled all of them, and they whirled around to see Thorne standing behind them, smirking. When everyone glared at him, he held up his hands in surrender. "Touch-y. You know I'm kidding, Wolf. I am."

Eyes narrowed, Wolf let out a slow, uneven breath. Somehow, he managed to ignore Thorne, and turned back to the screens. "Where is this menagerie and how can I get it to it? I'm leaving tonight."

The collective "no!" from everyone in the room echoed around the rock walls of the room.

It was Sebastian who spoke up. "You heard what we said. No one is going anywhere or doing anything until we've spoken to the whole group."

Wolf ignored him too. "Kai, now that we know where Scarlet is, I'll back your idea on moving out quicker. You were going to be the diversion anyway, and this way we get Scarlet back and stop the attack on your palace already tomorrow. Start working on Cinder's speech."

"Agreed," said Kai.

"No," said Cinder firmly to the both of them. "Sebastian is right. We want to get Scarlet back as much as you do Wolf but—"

"But nothing. I've waited long enough," he growled.

"You have," she said. "But if you do this hastily and you're compromised, you won't do Scarlet any good. In fact, I don't think you should come along at all."

"I—"

"This menagerie is near the palace and therefore in close proximity to head thaumaturges. We want this to be a quick job."

"There's something else," Cress interjected quickly. "I think we might consider using Princess Winter to our advantage."

"Princess Winter!" spat Wolf. " _She_ is the problem. _She_ has Scarlet."

"She hates Levana just as much as you do," said Florencia. "It's likely she did that Earthen a favor by taking her."

"To be in a _cage_!" Wolf yelled. "To practice _glamour_ on her!"

"Doubtful. I'm afraid the Princess is not very stable," said Sebastian.

"Even better," said Wolf, now sarcastic.

"Shut up, Wolf," said Thorne. "We get you're worried, but all of your outbursts are not helping anything."

Cress bit her tongue, a part of her wanting to scold Thorne for the way he had spoken to Wolf, the other part wanting to agree with him.

"I agree with Flo. It's a well-known fact that the Princess is incapable of using her glamour," said Darragh. "If she is practicing, then it probably won't affect Scarlet at all."

"Actually, Princess Winter does not use glamour at all on _principle._ That's why she's going crazy."

"How would you know that?" Cinder asked Sebastian.

"You think we would bother putting together this resistance without checking all the facts? Winter is a friend of the Clays. She has more support in the outer sectors than you'd think. Jacin was well respected out here as well until he became Thaumaturge Mira's personal guard."

"Jacin is Winter's guard now," said Cress.

This made Sebastian's sneer change to worry."Are you sure?"

She shrugged. "I figured out a pretty clear timeline of where he's been since he came back to Luna. I-I don't know how much my opinion counts but—"

"It counts," said Cinder. "Go on."

"Well, I don't think that Jacin's loyalties lie with Queen Levana. I think they lie with Winter."

"Well, that we knew. Jacin always said he served his Princess alone."

Before anyone could interrupt again, she opened the last file, the one that she had been saving. "After Jacin's trial, he was whipped by Thaumaturge Park on the central dais." Cress winced at the thought of what she'd seen. "The footage makes it look really bad. I think he overdid it."

"Good," said Thorne.

"Princess Winter came to visit him the following day when he was left in chains on the dais."

Kai gaped at her. "Public beatings? I thought Luna was supposed to be advanced." He reconsidered and shook his head. "Nevermind. It's Levana we're dealing with."

"Unfortunately there's no audio," Cress continued, "but there is security footage nearby as well. It's good enough that I think you'll see what I see." She pressed play on the feed. Everyone huddled around her screen, and together they watched Princess Winter and Jacin Clay talk to each other.

"So?" asked Cinder.

"They're into each other," supplied Thorne. "It's really obvious."

"Thank you!" said Cress, beaming at him. "I'm glad you noticed."

She zoomed in and froze the screen on a close-up of the two of them staring at each other. Jacin was smiling—no, _glowing_. So was Winter. Cress recognized the look on her face because it was the one that _she_ got whenever she was thinking about Thorne—the one she knew she'd have to hide now that he could see again. She pressed play again and watched a guard interrupt them. The unpleasant scowl that had been on Jacin's face throughout their time together on the Rampion returned immediately.

"Swoony psychodrama, indeed," muttered Cinder.

"Mmm?" asked Kai.

"Nothing."

"He's taken away later," continued Cress, "and then the footage shows two days later he's stationed outside of her room and remains there the majority of the time. They talk a lot. More than any other guard. In fact, the other guards don't talk to Winter at all."

"Cress, your hacking magic is great and all, but could you tell us why this is relevant?"

She shot an exasperated look at Thorne, and then nodded to Sebastian.

"Levana hates Winter more than anyone on Luna. Garrison has made it clear that Jacin will do anything to protect Winter. He fears for her safety. If we can get Winter on our side, which she may already be, then Jacin will be on our side too."

"He still left us for dead," Thorne protested.

"And Winter still has Scarlet!" added Wolf.

"Maybe there are other reasons," said Florencia.

"Maybe this is a waste of our time," said Thorne.

He made a face at Florencia, whose eyes danced as though Thorne had just given her a challenge. She opened her mouth to speak, but Cinder crossed her arms over her chest. The look on her face silenced everyone.

Then she turned to Cress and Darragh. "Thank you both for your work. We will consider all of this. If Winter does indeed turn out to be an ally"—she raised an eyebrow at Wolf and Thorne—"and Jacin as well, that will be helpful."

"It may be easier than you think," said Sebastian. "Winter was left completely alone with Levana after the accident."

"Murder attempt," Kai clarified. He pointed at Cinder. "Levana tried to _murder_ Cinder. She will try to murder _me_ and all of us. She has murdered countless Earthens. How many more will you let die before you do something? We need to act now, regardless of how Winter may or may not feel about Cinder – _Princess Selene_."

Sebastian just sighed and turned to Florencia. "We'll leave you to think things over. We have keep up appearances and then prepare for the large group meeting tonight." He checked his port. "You have five hours. Someone will be by to bring you a lunch." Then he snapped his fingers at Darragh. "Darragh, I'll leave you to show them where they can rest and then you may take some time off."

Darragh cracked his knuckles as Sebastian and Florencia left. "No way I'm going to rest now. With everything that Cress has shown me tonight, I've got streams of data coming in that I want to analyze."

His enthusiasm was infectious, but Cress yawned regardless. "I definitely need to rest. My adrenaline is wearing off."

He pouted, but it didn't last. "If you must. Come back soon and hang out with me more, okay?" His smile made her beam.

"Don't you have to get to work?" said Thorne. "Aren't all the Lunars going to wonder why you're not showing up?"

Cress's eyes widened at the thought. "Darragh faked his own death a year ago! He lives down here."

Thorne seemed momentarily taken aback. "Oh."

"You live here in this room?" asked Kai, gesturing at the folded up cots.

"Oh no," he said, eyes twinkling. "I have a room. It's in the same area where you'll be staying. There's a kitchen and everything. If you head down this corridor"—he pointed to their right—"you'll hang a left, go straight for about a quarter kilometer, and then turn right two more times, you'll reach it. Help yourself."

"I'd like to see all the footage from the menagerie in the last two weeks," said Wolf. "I don't care if it takes the entire five hours or if Scarlet's not in it."

"Sure," said Darragh. "You can watch it while I'm filtering data." He turned to the others. "If anyone else would like any more information in the meantime, come find me."

Thorne scowled. "I think we'll be fine with Cress, thanks."

Darragh grinned casually. "Even Cress doesn't have all the passwords."

"She can figure them out. You were the one raving about how much of a genius she was."

Kai gave Thorne a weird look but didn't say anything. She wondered what had happened between the two of them when they'd been alone. They didn't seem so hostile anymore, but she didn't want to risk anyone starting to fight again, so she decided to speak up. "Darragh has it under control, Captain. Don't worry."

"I'm sure he does," said Kai. "I have some things I'd like to discuss with the Captain here, anyway, so why don't you ladies go take a break?"

He grinned broadly at Cinder, who looked confused. He smiled at her a little longer, more pointedly this time, Cress thought, and then her mouth parted slightly in understanding. Cress, on the other hand, just raised her eyebrows at the two of them, wondering what they were doing and why Kai needed to talk to Thorne.

Thorne stared at Darragh as though he hadn't heard either of them.

"Great idea, Kai," said Cinder brightly. "Come on, Cress."

She wanted to stay and talk to Thorne or for Thorne to walk with her instead of Cinder. But Thorne still wasn't looking at her, and Cinder looked so eager that she didn't have the heart to tell her that she preferred someone else's company. "Okay," she said meekly. Then, because she couldn't stop herself, she added, "Captain, will you come find me later?"

He tore his stare away from Darragh and finally looked her in the eyes. She couldn't quite make out his expression, but it was one she hadn't seen on him before. "Sure," he said. "I mean, if I have time. Looks like there's a lot we need to be filled in on."

"I can fill—"

"Come on, Cress," said Cinder again, grabbing her arm. "They'll both catch up with us later. Thank you, Darragh, for allowing Ze'ev to see the footage."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

As Cinder nudged Cress out the room, she whispered, "I think it's time that we get away from the boys a little. What do you say? Girl time?"

"G-girl time?"

Cinder grimaced. "I never really thought I'd say those words, but without Iko here, I guess someone's gotta do it."


	33. Chapter 33

Neither Cress nor Cinder needed help finding the rooms that were adjacent to the kitchen. Cress had already spent a bleary half hour there last night, trying to get in a power nap. With Darragh typing away constantly, the cot in the technology room had been too distracting for such things. Cinder, on the other hand, never ceased to demonstrate the practicality of being a cyborg and had immediately committed the directions to memory.

They had spent the first day in the tunnels in a completely different section, one that was reserved for meetings and strategizing. She had only been allowed to meet Darragh and see the tech room when they had learned of her hacking prowess. More than one person had been surprised to learn that their firewall troubles were mostly caused by a sixteen-year-old Lunar Shell.

She had been surprised to see just how much effort had gone into creating these tunnels. It was a refuge, a shelter, a fortress. Cress could easily come up with dozens of imaginative scenarios within these regolith walls. She could not, however, think of many things that Cinder might want to talk to her about.

It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with Cinder, but from the beginning the group had been pretty clearly divided. Wolf kept mostly to himself unless he was training Cinder; Thorne spent time with Cress or Cinder, but usually not together; and when Kai had joined them, Cinder had gone off with him whenever possible.

Girl talk did sound fun. The closest she'd gotten to girl talk on the Rampion had been some of her chats with Iko. Now that she was gone, it was probably a good idea that the two girls should try to bond. After all, in all the epic romance dramas she had watched, there were always best friends helping each other out with their crushes.

Thinking about crushes made her think of Thorne and how she actually wanted to be spending time with him right now instead of Cinder. She had seen enough of Cinder and Wolf in the last few days. But Thorne was busy with Kai, a strange thought that made her head spin a little. And Thorne was moody again, which wasn't as much strange as it was disconcerting.

Cress pushed open the door to the tiny room she'd barely slept in last night and took a seat on her cot. The standard blankets that came with them were still rumpled from her body. She pulled them around her even though she wasn't cold.

Cinder sat on the other cot and folded up her legs underneath her. "So, it's kind of amazing that Kai and Thorne made it back safe, right?"

"I know. I still can't believe it!"

"Me neither. I'm sorry you had to miss the reunion last night, though. They showed up after we got back to Wolf's house."

"But where were they? What happened?"

"They were sort of…kidnapped…by Lunars."

Cress sat on the edge of the cot. "No! How did they escape?"

Cinder frowned, but only briefly. "I'm not completely sure. But from what I understand, it was pretty traumatic. This guy Royer, he tortured them with glamour."

Cress could feel herself pale. She remembered the horror at being shoved into the back of Neils' truck. Her mind conjured up images of Thorne and Kai bound and gagged and beaten. She knew that wasn't how glamour worked, but it was hard not to let her imagination run away with her. Disturbed, she pulled the blanket around her tighter.

"But they're okay?"

Cinder shook her head. She picked at a thread that was sticking out from the cot and played with it before regarding Cress again. "Kai is pretty shaken up. Thorne seems fine. Then again, Thorne always seems fine."

"Except when he's fighting with Kai."

"Oh, you haven't heard?" A smile played on Cinder's lips. "They're best friends now." She laughed and shook her head again, as if it were the craziest thing she'd heard in a while.

Cress processed this information and decided that it was the best thing she'd heard in a while.

"So…" said Cinder, going back to playing with the thread in the cot. "How are things between you and Thorne?"

"What do you mean?"

Cinder didn't look at her. "You know… _things_."

"Things are fine," said Cress. "I'm glad he's safe."

Cinder threw up her hands. "Okay, I admit it! I'm terrible at girl talk. The closest I ever came to it was when I talked to Iko or Peony but they were both so _boy crazy_ that it was hard to do anything but listen to them blab."

She stared at Cinder, who was now fiddling with her titanium hand. "I think you were doing a pretty good job so far. I don't really have much experience with this either…or anything, really." She shrugged and pointed to herself. "Satellite girl."

Cinder laughed and reciprocated the gesture. "Cyborg girl."

When they had both stopped laughing, Cinder finally crossed her arms. "Listen, there's obviously something going on between you and Thorne and both of you seem all torn up about it, so…if you want to talk about it, I'm here."

Cress let out a long sigh and threw herself back in the cot. She knew she was transparent about her feelings, so there was no point in keeping it in. Kai already knew. Maybe Kai had even told her.

"I'm totally in love with Captain Carswell Thorne," she whispered into her blanket.

"I thought so."

"Do you think he knows?" She rolled to her side to see Cinder's reaction.

"I don't know. Maybe. I think he's in denial." She hesitated before continuing. "Truth? I feel a little guilty for meddling, but Kai and I came to the conclusion this morning that you're both being stupid."

"Thanks."

"Normally I just reserve that adjective for Thorne, but in this scenario, it has to be said. Why don't you just tell him how you feel?"

"Did you tell _Kai_ how you felt?"

Cinder looked sheepish. "Point taken. But in my defense, he was the emperor of a country, and I was planning to run away to Europe, and then he put me in jail, and then I found out I was Princess Selene and….yeah, it was a mess."

"And now you're going to be the two most powerful rulers to ever make an alliance." Cress sighed dreamily. "It's so romantic."

Cinder snorted. "I don't think we're quite at the point where I would consider this whole ordeal romantic."

"But isn't _Kai_ romantic at least? He seems like such a knight in shining armor."

"He does, doesn't he?" She broke into a smile. "I doubt I could find a better guy. Perhaps a more convenient one, but I guess my life is not meant to be convenient." She gave Cress a sidelong glance. "You're distracting me. I'm here to talk about _Thorne._ Totally in love, you were saying?"

She closed her eyes and pictured his face. "It's kind of a problem."

"Tell him. I've learned the hard way that it's better to say things when you mean them."

"I _did_ tell him. He doesn't love me."

"I think you're wrong. And your fever-induced confession in the desert doesn't count."

Her eyes snapped open. "How do you know about that?"

"I trapped Thorne in an awkward situation on the Rampion and made him spill," she said proudly.

Maybe girl talk was the best thing she'd ever experienced.

She almost squealed. "He talked about me?"

"Yes."

"Tell me everything."

"I can't, really. I'm still trying to piece everything together. But I think you should talk to him."

Cress shook her head. "We've already talked about it—not just in the desert. After we kissed, we—"

"Wait, you _kissed_?" Cinder's mouth dropped open.

"He didn't tell you about that?"

"No. Figures he wouldn't," she muttered. "Go on."

"I can't tell him I'm still in love with him," she said miserably, "because I lied to him when we talked about it afterwards. And if he doesn't—I just can't." Before Cinder could say anything else, she rushed on. "I know I should be worried about Kai leaving and us trying to rescue Scarlet and trying to overthrow Levana but now that he's back all I can think about is him. And if it wasn't already bad enough, now he's _seen_ me."

Cinder came over to sit next to her. "But that's a good thing, Cress. Everyone could tell he was really excited to see you."

"No, it's a bad thing," she said, still miserable. "I've been wondering what would happen when he got his sight back. What if all he sees is the same girl in the satellite with the weird hair?

"Cress, Thorne says really stupid things sometimes without thinking. I told you, I reserve that adjective for him. I think he likes you."

"There were maybe one or two occasions where I thought so too," she said. "But I don't know enough about social cues to know if I'm just making things up in my mind sometimes. And now it doesn't matter."

"Why not?"

"Because he can see! Oh Cinder, I'm the most selfish—no, the most _cruel_ —person in the galaxy! A part of me actually wished that he wouldn't get his sight back." Once unstoppered, the horrible truth of it all spilled out of her. "Because now that he has it back, I know he'll be attuned to every pretty girl that he sees. He'll have his pick and it won't be me, Cinder. It won't be me."

Cinder put an arm around her. "I might have agreed with you before, but I think Thorne has changed a little since I first met him."

She sniffed. "You think?"

"I—"

An exaggerated throat clearing interrupted Cinder and they both jerked their heads up.

Thorne stood in the doorway.

Beyond mortified, Cress's face instantly turned hot as coals and she wanted to die, right then and there. How much had he heard?

_Did he know?_

Cinder sprang to her feet. "Thorne! What are you—" she gritted her teeth and then turned back to Cress. "Oh, stars. Cress, I promise I didn't plan this. I didn't—"

"Cinder, would you excuse us?" Thorne took a step into the room and waited for Cinder to leave.

She gulped and glanced between Thorne and Cress a few times, trying to decide what to do.

"Get out," said Thorne more firmly and dragged her out the doorway. He shut the door behind her and leaned on it, his arms hanging at his sides as he squinted at Cress. Then he pushed away from the door and approached her slowly, his blue eyes piercing through her like a lance to the heart.

Cress sat, still paralyzed, still burning red.

_He knew._

_Oh spades, he definitely knew_.

Thorne stopped in front of her and, letting out a breath, sat down next to her on the cot. "We should probably talk."

Cress shrank away from him, unable to look him in the face. "How much did you hear?"

He shifted next to her. "Enough."

"I'm sorry," she whispered into her hands.

Thorne pried them away and forced her to look at him. "Why are you apologizing?"

"I-I didn't mean it. Of course I'm happy that you can see again."

"Do you really think the first thing I'm going to do now is go looking for pretty girls?"

She looked at him, unable to come up with a response.

His lips twitched into a smile and he cocked his head at her. "Mrs. Smith, what do you take me for? I thought I made it pretty clear on our honeymoon that you were the only girl for me."

Cress's stomach did acrobatics at the same time that her heart turned into a hummingbird.

_Was he—?_

_Was_ she _—?_

She turned into a pile of shaky limbs.

Thorne scuffed his boot against the floor. "That was a joke but the sentiment behind it was real, Cress. I was actually on my way over here to talk to you about all this. I'm sorry I eavesdropped."

"It's okay," she finally said, still trying to grapple with what he was telling her.

"Actually, I'm not sorry," he corrected. "I probably would have chickened out if I hadn't overheard you. I'm just sorry I was too dumb to say anything sooner, especially now that I know that you felt..." His voice dropped. "How I felt."

"You…feel the same?" she whispered, her body still trembling.

He nodded.

She started crying.

Out of relief, out of happiness, out of nerves, she wasn't sure, but she buried herself in his chest and he held her, chuckling. "Can't say I've ever gotten that reaction before."

She laughed and wiped her tears away, wanting to study him and look at him clearly for the first time without having to worry about what he was thinking. She wanted to touch his face, to ghost her fingers across his cheek the way that his own fingers were barely touching her waist.

She inched closer.

He looked away, his hand dropping from her waist to his side. She sat back on her knees.

"I really like you, Cress. And that got me thinking that..." He drew in a sharp breath. "I want you to try meeting other guys. You should experience what it's like to be a normal teenager."

Her heart pinched, her brow furrowed. "What?"

"Aces, don't look at me like that, Cress. I'm not used to your facial expressions yet, and that one right now is killing me."

She didn't understand. "But you like me. I like you. Why don't you want to be with me?"

He reached out and took her hand. It was the same way that he'd always done when he couldn't see, but now, with his eyes open, it sent a shiver down her spine _—_ but one that was clouded with just as much worry as anticipation. "I'm trying to think about what's best for you."

Cress squeezed his hand. "The best thing for me is you, Thorne."

He tried to move his hand but she wouldn't let him, instead squeezing it harder. He put his other hand over hers and grimaced. "You can't know that, Cress. I told you that I didn't want to hurt you and I meant it. I've met other girls already. Dated them, even. You're only sixteen and I'm still the first guy you've ever met. It's not really a great standard."

"I've met other guys!" she protested. "Kai, Wolf, Darragh…um, the men from the caravan."

Thorne's shoulders relaxed with the hint of a laugh. "Well, if you've met Kai then I guess we're okay."

"See?"

"Cress, you're killing me."

She doubled the intensity of her look, hoping that whatever expression he saw on her face would keep 'killing him.' Maybe if he kept having these feelings he would stop being stupid.

Because Cinder had been right, in the end. He was _definitely_ stupid. But she had given up before because she had been uncertain of his feelings and now that she knew them, she would not let him give up too.

Now if only he would stop trying to set her up with other guys, they would be okay.

He sighed. "Remember how I told you on the Rampion that I liked the hero persona that you invented for me?"

"Yes."

"And I knew I wasn't a hero, but it was nice to pretend I was?"

"Yes."

"I know I'm not that guy. I'm just the guy who's going to go to jail or end up a pardoned criminal if I get lucky. But you _deserve_ a hero, Cress. And I realized something today. It made me crazy but it's true. _Darragh_ is that guy."

She blinked. "Darragh?"

"If you have to choose between the two of us, you shouldn't pick me."

He made to get up off the cot but Cress pulled him back down by his shirt. He was not going anywhere. Not this time. He had avoided conversations like this long enough.

"You're jealous of Darragh? Is that what this is about?"

He scoffed. "Jealous? Me? Stars, no. I would never want to hide out on Luna for the rest of my life pretending I'm dead. But I recognize what he's done. The sacrifices he's made for a cause he believes in. I've never had to make any sacrifices. I always choose myself and don't think of others."

"Thorne, that's not true. You've helped Cinder. You've helped me."

"Cress, I wanted to get out of _jail_. Where else would I have gone if not with Cinder?"

"So you don't care about Cinder? Or me? Or anyone?"

"I care about Cinder."

"And you care about me."

He groaned, his frustration evident on his features. "Of course I do. That's what I'm trying to communicate here, Cress." He pointed between them. "You and me, this— _thing_ —it's not going to work out because I'm going to mess it up. I don't know how to be the hero in the dramas that everyone loves. Do you understand?"

Before she could talk herself out of it, Cress leaned closer to him and took both his cheeks in her hands. It was a gesture that he had done many times before when trying to talk sense into her, and now it was her turn.

"I don't want everyone else's hero. I just want _my_ hero. And that's you."

"But I _—"_

"You."

He exhaled slowly. "Stars, Cress." He brought his hands up to cup her face as well. "I guess when you put it that way..."

Cress was suddenly dizzy.

It was the way he was looking at her. The intensity of it. Like—

Like he _wanted_ her.

She swallowed.

And then he was pulling her face closer and his eyes were darting from her eyes to her lips to her eyes and back down to her lips again. And then his own eyes slipped shut as he paused before her, not more than a sliver of space separating them. Her heart thundering, she closed her eyes too.

Their noses bumped against each other as he tilted his face, making her laugh nervously. Then his lips grazed hers, just barely, before they finally connected. She was suddenly dizzy again—this time with longing. She explored his mouth, tentatively at first, and he responded to every brush of her lips with gentleness and unending warmth.

When they broke apart, he pressed his forehead to hers while Cress tried to remember her own name.

"I've been wanting to do that again since the rooftop," he breathed, not letting go of her face.

"Me too," she finally managed to say. "Was I…was it…okay?"

He smiled and caressed her cheek with his thumb. "It's hard for me not to be biased when I've just kissed the most gorgeous girl I know."

She melted. "You think I'm—"

"Gorgeous, beautiful, adorable," he supplied. "Take your pick."

He gave her another kiss, more chaste this time, but then lingered in front of her lips until she couldn't stand it anymore. She needed more—more contact, more pressure, more warmth.

Cress grabbed for his shirt to bring his lips back to hers, pulling him towards her with such enthusiasm that he nearly toppled over. His arms flailed for purchase in an attempt to keep both of them from falling off the cot and she cringed. But he just straightened the collar of his shirt and scooted back to her.

When he spoke, his voice was low and ragged. "Let's try that again."

This time, with him leading, he guided her down onto her back gently, never breaking contact with her. Cress gave in to all the new sensations alight in her body. She lost herself in how his fingers tangled in her hair, how he smelled clean and crisp and freshly shaven, how his breath felt hot against her lips whenever he exhaled, how his rapid beating heart mirrored hers.

But then he drew back, and she almost cried out for him to come back, but she quickly learned that he had other plans. He whispered his way down her jaw, trailing kisses to her neck, stopping only to explore a spot on her collarbone that Cress had always imagined in her fantasies.

_Her fantasies about Carswell Thorne were coming true._

Any remaining nerves fell away.

"This is how I always imagined it," she said, her breaths coming uneven. "Only better."

He followed the same path back to her mouth, but then propped himself up on his elbows. He hovered over her, his signature smirk dancing on his face. "Good to know I can compete with my fantasy self."

She rolled her eyes and then kissed him with such intensity that she thought her heart might explode.

Then she slipped a hand under his shirt to explore the small of his back.

He stopped and pulled away, his hand finding her hand and guiding it back down on the cot. "Cress…"

"Captain?"

His eyes searched hers. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not as naïve as you think," she said. "I've seen the dramas. I know how these things progress."

Thorne let out a laugh, looked up at the ceiling, and then groaned and rolled away from her. He nearly fell off the cot again, so he sat up.

Cress followed suit, worried. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, not at all." His intertwined his fingers with hers. "It's just...you're young and innocent, Cress. I'm not going to be that guy."

"What guy?"

"I told you, I've already kissed lots of girls. And worse, I told many of them I loved them when I didn't mean it. I mean it now and…" He stopped, his eyes widening.

Cress's heart swelled. "You love me?"

Thorne cleared his throat. "Well, you know. I'm explaining a scenario to make a point. And the point is, with girls in the past I might have…continued…but I want to do things differently this time. With you."

She considered him. His face was so cute when he was awkward and fumbling over his words. She was beginning to wonder if he could ever _not_ look cute. It was making it so hard to not want to lunge at him again.

He had said he _loved_ her.

Even if he didn't want to admit it.

"Are you saying you want to change?" she asked him.

"What's to change?" He grinned cockily. "I'm as dreamy as can be."

"And still pretty vain," she added.

He laughed, then replaced his cocky attitude with a serious tone. "I think that for the first time ever, I might care about someone else more than me. And if you insist on picking me, then I want to do at least this one thing right by you." He kissed the top of her head. "Think about our first kiss. I gave you a kiss worth waiting for, didn't I?"

She nodded.

"Just trust me that this worth waiting for too."

"Okay," she said, "I trust you."

He held out his arm for her. "Come on, we have a lot to catch up on." She obliged, settling her head into the crook of his shoulder, his arm secure around her. "I missed you, Cress."

She couldn't help poking him. "You really _are_ a sappy, lovelorn romantic."

His laugh vibrated her body. "Never."

"Just a hero, then."

A beat.

"I'm working on it."


	34. Chapter 34

Cinder cringed at the words that scrawled across Darragh's gigantic netscreen. Kai typed confidently, muttering to himself, sometimes furrowing his brow in thought but then nodding and continuing. They were words that spoke of trust in a long-lost princess, of an attack on the palace, of a revolution.

Though it was what they had discussed all along, the tangibility of it in front of her now was almost more than she could handle. She was not this brave, not this confident, not this eloquent. This was the voice of a politician, a ruler, a true heir to the throne.

If only Kai could deliver the speech for her.

Pending that everything worked out and the rest of the Lunar resistance approved their final plans, he would be otherwise occupied, however. He would be in more immediate danger than all of them. She could only hope that Levana's plans hadn't changed—that she still did want to marry him and take over Earth through an alliance. They needed Kai to make this work.

Her familiar headache began to throb.

"You're doing it again," said Kai, his hand on her knee jerking her back to reality. "Playing with your titanium hand."

She scrunched her fingers up awkwardly and shoved her hands in her pockets. "All that time with gloves. It's a hard habit to break."

He rubbed her knee gently. "I know. I'm sure that after years of being forced to hide who you are, it's difficult to accept that it's okay for everyone to see you now."

"That's a metaphor, isn't it," she said glumly.

Kai kissed her on the cheek. Once, twice, three times, until he leaned his forehead into hers. She twisted in the chair to better reach him, and soon her hand was in his.

Metal on skin.

It was so natural for the two of them now that she barely gave it a second thought. It was hard to think about anything when the breath between them was the only thing separating their lips.

"You're going to be a great leader, Cinder," he murmured. Her orange light didn't blink on. He believed every word he was saying.

And maybe if he believed it, she would believe it too.

"I hate this," she whispered back.

His free hand came up to cup her chin and he pulled away from her. Though he was still within centimeters of her, it was agonizingly far away.

"Use that, Cinder. If we do nothing, it stays the same."

"I know."

"She tried to kill you."

"I know."

"She killed thousands of Earthens."

"I know."

"Destroyed Lunar families, genetically modified innocent children, withheld a cure that would have saved your sister—"

"Kai. I know why we have to do this."

He dropped his hand and turned back to the screen. "Then let's make sure this is the best speech you're ever going to give."

* * *

Two hours later, she still wasn't doing a very good at sounding convincing. Sure, she had downloaded the words and could read them, but Kai kept reiterating that it had to sound like she wasn't reading. It had to come from the heart.

Just when she thought her throat couldn't get any more dry from reciting the lines, Thorne and Cress emerged from the hallway.

Holding hands.

" _Yes_ ," muttered Kai under his breath at the same time that Cinder let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't ruined their chances of getting together after all.

When they caught Cinder's eye, Cress blushed furiously, unable to contain her smile. Thorne just shrugged, the corners of his lips twitching, as if holding hands with Cress was the most natural thing he'd ever done.

Iko would have called them adorable.

Kai stood. "Are we ready to go, then?"

"Of course," said Thorne.

Kai grabbed Cinder's hand too and together the four of them went to find the rest of the group.

As well as some much needed water.

* * *

Many people had arrived to discuss _Revolution: Phase One,_ as Cinder and Garrison had begun to call it since arriving at Eira and Abbott's.

The Kesleys had shown up for the meeting as well, which had pleased Wolf. Cinder was starting to enjoy the way his energy calmed down in their presence, and she imagined that nothing but a sense of home and belonging could do that. Wolf was still a wild card, based on his emotions, and she hoped that these small moments gave him the strength to focus on the task at hand.

The first half hour of the meeting had just been introductions. No one could believe that the lost princess was really with them in the tunnels. They wanted to see her cyborg parts for proof that she had been burned, to ask about her recollections as a baby, and to test out her glamour.

Apparently, Cinder was even able to glamour herself to look like her mother. When she'd done it the first time without knowing that she looked like Channary when she did it, the room had fallen silent. She was beautiful, they told her. Cinder didn't even have a picture of her, and at the moment, she resented not being able to see her own glamour.

She didn't call it up again.

Garrison, however, suggested that if it ever came to a final showdown, Cinder should use her Channary-like glamour to hurt Levana. She had always been afraid of her older sister, intimidated even. There had even been rumors that Levana had tried to murder Channary, when in fact she had died of regolith poisoning. Cinder pushed the thoughts of her mother and aunt away, an uncomfortable churning appearing in her stomach when she dwelled on it.

Mostly, she was surprised that these people actually supported her—believed in her.

Kai had been right.

Moving up the start of Phase One to the following day had been another story.

The first argument was over Scarlet.

"It's not necessary! We don't know this Earthen! She's not worth the risk!"

Cinder had taken that matter into her own hands before Wolf could cause a scene. His presence already made many of the Lunars uncomfortable, though they tried to hide that discomfort in front of Eira and Abbott.

"It's my fault that Scarlet Benoit has been captured," she said, making the room once again fall into a hush. It was disconcerting how much weight her own opinions carried when she was used to not even being acknowledged in a group. "And if Scarlet's family hadn't risked their lives for my life, I wouldn't be here today."

That had caused some murmuring as the group discussed the late Michelle Benoit and Logan Tanner.

The next argument was over Kai. Most thought that returning the Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth to Levana was the worst idea in the galaxy. Kai had handled the situation delicately but firmly, declaring that it was his decision. They argued that it wasn't—that he was now on Lunar territory and thus had no dominion over anything. "Not yet," he said.

But the idea of using Kai as a diversion while they got Scarlet was not overruled, in the end. Levana would not stop her attacks on Earth until she had him in her company. And if Levana was busy dealing with Kai's sudden appearance, she wouldn't notice someone slipping into the menagerie—especially if Cress and Darragh diverted the feeds.

Besides, they needed an inciting incident to cause the Lunars to fight. Kai didn't think that Levana's attacks would stop, no matter what they did, and that would be enough to march on the palace. It was up to them to show the Lunar population that they, too, would continue to be oppressed despite Levana's union with Kai.

There would be consequences, of course. Dire, even. But how much did the outer sectors want their freedom? How much did they want this reign of terror to end?

"Would you allow Lunars to freely come to Earth afterwards?" asked a rugged-looking woman who had a child hugging her knees.

Kai had scratched behind his ear and finally shaken his head. "That is not my decision to make alone. The Earthen Union as a whole needs to make that decision."

He had not added that they were still trying to figure out where Garan had hidden the blueprints to the chips that could disrupt glamour. They had decided not to mention anything about this while aboard the Rampion, since it would likely not be seen favorably among the Lunar population. Cinder was pretty sure that Kai wouldn't have a problem with Lunars coming to the Commonwealth if he knew that they wouldn't be able to manipulate Earthens anymore.

His response was met with a collective _boo_ , however. Cinder tried to convince them that she would make Luna better for them, but she knew that if she were a cyborg watching herself, her orange light would flicker at her lie. She did not yet know enough about Luna to make such promises.

It was a good thing, then, that Kai revealed his plans to make an alliance with _Cinder_ in the end.

Yes; she had never been more relieved that she couldn't blush.

The biggest argument, however, had been about Cress. No one had anticipated that argument, especially not Cress herself. The fact that there was a Shell among them—a living one, at that—had caused somewhat of an uproar among the resistance members.

"A Shell murdered the king and queen before!" yelled a man from the crowd. "We can train up this one to do the same!"

Cress had tried to hide behind Thorne as another person had scoffed, "You think the palace doesn't have enough security now to take on a single Shell? After the Shell Infanticide laws?"

"Ludicrous!"

"But the easiest way to overthrow Levana is to assassinate her. Let's send the Shell!"

There were a few cheers from the back of the crowd.

"We're not sending Cress to assassinate Levana," said Cinder calmly.

"You've got that right," said Thorne angrily.

"This is not going to get resolved with just one person," Cinder continued.

"It's going to take collaboration," Kai added. "I've prepared a speech for Princess Selene. Once I have gone to the palace, certain things will get set in motion. One of them will be my wedding. _That_ is when you attack. Together."

After more deliberation, Garrison had raised his hands for quiet. Cinder was impressed with the way that he, too, commanded the room. "I support the start of Phase One tomorrow evening, approximately one hour before the end of curfew. There will be many people milling about the streets of Luna, taking the subway, and it'll be easier for us to blend in."

The murmuring began again.

It was Darragh who managed to convince them. "I've received word of a gathering of the Artemisian Court tomorrow. There is always more security around the palace then. Princess Winter will also be required to attend, so the menagerie would be vacant with the exception of a single guard."

"But getting the Emperor there!"

"I will take him," said Garrison calmly, surprising even Cinder and Kai. "I still know people in the guard. They will believe what I tell them." He frowned at Kai. "He will not, however, be well received in such a… _healthy_ …state." His stare was pointed and piercing and made even Thorne wince.

Kai nodded, unflinching. "I understand."

"Very well," said Garrison. "All in favor?"

Not everyone raised their hands, but it was enough.

* * *

"No, Thorne should do it."

The four of them, gathered back in the room where Cress had slept the night before, stared at Kai. Wolf lowered his raised fists. Thorne, however, took a step back.

"No way. I've already hit you once."

"Exactly. I know you've got a weak punch. Wolf will probably kill me."

Wolf rolled his eyes. "I don't want the blood of an Emperor on my rap sheet. I've done a lot of fighting. I know how to make this look authentic.

Kai winced. "I know, that's what I'm worried about."

"Cinder could hit you," suggested Cress.

"Good idea," said Thorne. "Those metal parts of hers hurt a lot."

"I'm not hitting Kai!"

"Wimp," said Thorne.

"Coward," retorted Cinder.

Kai raised his hands in the air. "Stop. Cinder isn't hitting me. Cinder gets to take care of me after," he said, his smile broadening.

"Aww," said Cress, making Cinder once again so thankful that she wasn't able to blush.

"Cinder, can you make it not hurt while it's happening?" Kai looked at her hopefully.

She wasn't sure. She knew she could make people forget about her, or not really see her, or desire her. But making them not feel pain? Was it possible? "Of course," she said.

Thorne eyed them warily. "So who's beating him up?"

"We're just giving him some cuts and bruises," said Wolf. "And I think I should do it. Someone inexperienced could hit you incorrectly and cause a lot more damage."

"Wolf it is," said Kai.

"Thank the stars," said Thorne. "I already felt bad enough about the first hit."

"I sort of deserved it," said Kai, shrugging.

"Maybe we could attach a note to him," said Thorne to Cinder. "Something along the lines of…" he trailed off, until he smirked. "S _orry he doesn't look so pretty anymore_."

"Don't you worry," said Kai. "I'll still look _pretty_ , Captain."

* * *

Cinder hugged her knees into her chest, the artificial air in the tunnels chilling her to the core. Strong arms crept around her waist, and soon her body warmed with Kai's chest pressed into her back. She sighed against him happily, letting him hold her as tightly as he wanted and, for once, not feeling pressured to pull away.

Kai had made sure that they were completely alone and would remain so for the remainder of the evening. The excuse that she needed to tend to his wounds did not keep Thorne from snickering, but they both decided they didn't care.

With Kai leaving tomorrow, everything had changed.

"This is my favorite evening," she said, nuzzling her cheek against his neck.

He brushed her cheek with kisses until he tired, then rested his chin on her head. "Your favorite, huh?"

She gazed at the regolith walls that surrounded them. They were plain and not decorated like the entryway walls with all the glimmering names, but they were peaceful. She could relax in here, away from prying eyes, scheming minds, and burdened hearts.

"Yes." She closed her eyes, almost scared to admit how she really felt. "Despite everything we know is going to happen, we know where you and I stand now. A day that ends like this, with us together and _happy_ together—how could it not be?"

Kai tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, because for once she'd worn it down in front of him. They both stayed silent for a few minutes, with Cinder's mind counting the breaths between them.

"When this all over," he finally said, "no matter where we end up, I'm going to make sure that every day is your favorite."

She twisted so she could give him a response with her lips, even though they weren't capable of forming any words. The deep longing that he had awoken in her when they had first kissed on the Rampion ignited again, like it always did. She doubted she would ever be able to get enough of him.

"Every day, Your Majesty?"

"Every day," he said, then added: "As long as you call me Kai."

"I can do that."

"Promise you won't forget?"

His question hung between them as they looked into each other's eyes for what must have been the hundredth time that evening. Cinder knew he was asking about more than just a name or a title, and its meaning was enough to spread light over all the darkness she'd experienced every _other_ day of her life.

"I promise," she whispered.

When they kissed, she tried to stop herself from feeling around for his emotions, but his calm and loving energy made it hard. Whenever they embraced, his emotions always mirrored hers.

This was not the end, but a beginning.

* * *

Cress' hands flew over the keys. Unlike their mission at the palace, she wasn't in danger of being discovered by Queen Levana or Sybil Mira, so she could even have a little fun while she protected her friends.

" _Cyborg_ and _wolf_ en route to package with seven Lunars trailing," she said to Darragh. "Location trackers indicate they are nearing the subway."

"They're glamoured, right?" asked Thorne from behind her. He stood watch with Sebastian, who was overseeing today's mission from home base in Garrison's absence.

"Better be," said Darragh. "Won't be able to see from the feeds. Meanwhile, Emperor Kaito is set to be dropped off at 19:43 hours."

"It's no fun if you don't use code names," Cress complained. For this mission, she was an agent. A spy.

Thorne laughed and massaged her shoulders. "Cress, _cyborg_ and _wolf_ aren't exactly discrete code names."

"Shhh," she said. "I need to focus." She typed more commands, synching her rhythm with Darragh's. "I'm ready to scramble their signal when you are."

"Ready."

"Let's get this show on the road," said Thorne.

Sebastian cleared his throat. "Don't forget to loop the feeds on the subway and menagerie so it looks like there are new people entering."

Cress rolled her eyes but made sure he didn't see. What an amateur. "Don't forget to tell your people to plant the transmitters where I specified."

"That's my girlfriend," whispered Thorne to Sebastian, making Cress smile and puff up at the same time. "She's kind of a big deal."

* * *

Scarlet had grown accustomed to Princess Winter's visits. The girl was definitely crazy, that had no doubt, but at least she had offered Scarlet some company while she waited to be rescued. That was the message she had received, after all: that her friends were coming for her.

Clearly no one was in any kind of hurry.

Winter's visits were usually filled with tales about what a hero Jacin was, which still made Scarlet sneer. It was one thing to think that maybe she could trust the princess. It was another thing entirely to try to trust the man who was partly responsible for killing Thorne and the satellite girl, getting Wolf shot, and her present condition on the moon.

No, she dreamed of the day she could strangle him with her own bare hands. That is, if Winter ever let her out of her cage and allowed her within walking distance of him.

She was losing track of time in her cage without the company of a portscreen or the net to tell her how many hours or days had passed. She had counted the nights she had slept since she'd been on Luna, but she'd had periods when she had blacked out from glamour or pain before being delivered to the menagerie.

Ryu didn't seem to mind the bars.

She was talking to him one evening—because that was what her time resorted to when Winter wasn't around—when there was a commotion down the path. Scarlet scrambled to her knees and craned her neck to the right, towards the exit of the menagerie where the guard normally stood.

"You can't be in here!"

Two men in royal guard uniforms smacked him around. "Princess Winter is in danger and you're still standing here guarding animals?" asked the one guard in a grating voice.

"I haven't received any notifications…" said the guard, trailing off. "Ah, I see. Of course. I must leave at once."

The man sprinted off, leaving the two guards in his wake. But if it was such an emergency, why wouldn't they go too? Scarlet's skin crawled at the thought of their intentions. She hadn't had much luck with royal guards so far.

One of the guards flew over to Scarlet's cage and his image flickered. She retreated into her cage, away from him, away from the Lunar.

But soon the man standing in front of the bars was _Wolf_.

A sob escaped Scarlet's throat, and she shrank back further in the cage. It was a trick…just another Lunar trick.

Then Linh Cinder was standing next to him. "Hurry, we don't have much time. Cress says Kai's only been there for five minutes. That gives us three more to get out of here." She paused. "Hi Scarlet. Sorry about the glamour, but I couldn't risk you seeing who we were and giving us away. "

Scarlet couldn't say anything. Neither, apparently, could Wolf, who was paralyzed in front of her, his eyes wide and green and brimming with pain. He had more scars, she thought, than what she remembered, but she wasn't sure anymore about she really knew and didn't.

" _Wolf_ ," said Cinder urgently. "We need to go."

"Scarlet," Wolf said, his voice sounding as dry and cracked as her own parched mouth. "You're okay." He reached his hands through the bars for her. She stared at them, still unable to grasp whether it was a Lunar trick. "Scarlet?" he said again, this time a question.

Scarlet looked from Wolf back to Cinder and back to Wolf again. Their eyes clashed and hers began to fill with tears.

"Scar. Please," he said, stretching his hand. "I couldn't come any sooner. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

"Wolf, I think she's in shock. Break the cage," said Cinder. "We have one minute to leave."

He retracted his hand reluctantly, not taking his eyes off her. She wiped her nose on her dirty, tattered sleeve and in that moment, he gasped. Scarlet looked down at herself and then remembered her missing finger.

He would want blood for that.

Wolf stood up, eyes flashing with anger and told her to back into the cage even more. She did as she was told.

That was all she did lately, anyway.

With one fell swoop, Wolf launched himself at the cage and bent the bars away from each other, the creaking of metal biting into her ears. When he had finished, he reached his hand through the bars again.

" _Scarlet, please_."

This time, she reached out for him. When her hand met his, warmth and safety flooded her. He pulled her through the cage. One hand still gripping his, she righted herself unsteadily and nearly collapsed.

Wolf caught her; of course he did.

She began to cry even more.

"I'm so relieved you're okay, Scarlet," said Cinder. "We'll explain everything later when you're safe, but now we need to run. I'm going to glamour us so please, keep as quiet as possible."

Wolf's hand made its way to her back. "I know you don't like being carried, but in the condition you're in, we can't take any chances. You can yell at me later."

Her stomach swooped as he scooped her up in his arms, cradling her like she was the most precious thing he'd ever encountered. Unlike the time on the train, however, she wasn't angry about it. Instead, that feeling of warmth and relief filled her even more. As he ran behind Cinder, she buried herself in his chest.

"Wolf…" she whispered, finally letting herself believe that this was real.

"My real name is Ze'ev," he whispered back.

* * *

Kai's head throbbed as he was thrown to the ground.

"I need a royal guard!" called Garrison Clay frantically. "I need a royal guard! Help!"

Two boots appeared at his head. "What seems to be the trouble here?" asked a young, male voice. Then: "Sir Clay, I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you. How can I be of assistance?"

"My wife and I were coming out of AR-5 and heard a group of men beating this man. They ran when we saw them, but when I discovered who it was, I called for assistance immediately. These men helped me bring him here."

A boot nudged Kai over until he faced the sky. A red-haired guard looked down on him. "Is that…?"

"I believe so. He says he has a message for Her Majesty."

"The Queen is in court."

"Then let's get to court immediately, you imbecile!" Garrison barked. "If this is really the Emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth then we will need to interrupt any proceedings."

The guard saluted. "Very well. I will call for a hover. I assume—Sir—that Her Majesty will want to question you."

"Of course," said Garrison. "I insist on nothing else."

The hover came almost immediately, with three more royal guards descending on him. They picked Kai up and helped him get in.

The ride to Artemisia was short and unlike anything Kai had imagined. He had only seen pictures of Artemisia, but it was a marvel to behold. At least, it was through one eye. His other one was sealed shut, sprouting a black and blue welt.

He practiced his lines as they flew. He had never been more happy to know that Levana would not be able to read his mind, but he had to practice his lying. He could not let his emotions give him away this time.

He only hoped that Cress and Darragh were able to do their job.

That Cinder was safe. That they would be able to rescue Scarlet.

When they arrived at the palace, they were flanked by guards. They buzzed around, some of them panicking, others barking out commands as Garrison had done earlier.

Clearly, no one had been expecting this.

The first person he recognized was Thaumaturge Aimery Park. Oh, how he hated that Thaumaturge. His gleaming smile was even more repugnant up here on the moon. Thaumaturge Park seemed simply delighted to find him hand-delivered to the palace.

He did not bother to remove Kai's binds, instead dumping him on the floor again.

Levana arrived shortly thereafter, nostrils flaring despite her overwhelming beauty.

"What is the meaning of this?" she hissed. "I am in the middle of an important council. How dare you—"

She stopped short when she saw Kai. Her eyes narrowed into slits. To Aimery, she said: "I demand explanations."

Thaumaturge Park grinned wickedly. "A guard found him being beat up in AR-5. He wasn't strong enough to tell if he was being glamoured or not, so he called for verification that it really was the Emperor."

Levana peered down at him, then up at the guards again. "Why is he still bound?"

Aimery flourished his hands, his big sleeves billowing. "Your Majesty, we were unsure of his intentions. He said he had a message for you. We could not simply take him at his word that he had no intention of harming you."

"I intend to marry Levana as I promised," said Kai, glaring at Aimery. "Before my wedding was so rudely interrupted by Linh Cinder." He spat her name, hoping his disgust at Cinder would show on his features as well. "And it didn't occur to you that when an Earthen podship landed on Luna I might be on it? I could have used your help, _Thaumaturge_ , considering that I've been kidnapped and mistreated under _your_ watch."

Aimery's eyes glinted, but the smile did not leave his face. They had known about the podship. Of course they had. But what had they done with that information? Kai was determined to find out in the following days.

Levana harrumphed. She circled him, like a hawk watching its prey, studying his cuts and bruises. She lifted his chin to inspect his eye. He resisted the urge to gag with her breath so close to his.

"I also have a message for you, Your Majesty," said Kai.

Levana pursed her lips. Kai thanked his lucky stars that he currently had an audience, even if it consisted only of a handful of Lunar guards and Thaumaturge Park.

"Let's hear it, then," said Levana, her voice dripping sugar and venom at the same time.

"I'm supposed to deliver a message from Princess Selene. Apparently she's angry that she didn't get the homecoming party she deserved, so she's giving out her own presents." He grimaced. "I'm supposed to be yours."

The rage over Levana's face was unmistakable. With a single gesture, he had dealt her a blow she hadn't expected. Kai coming to her freely? Selene offering Levana the one thing she wanted? Levana _had_ to know that Cinder didn't have any good intentions.

"She also said to tell you one more thing," Kai continued, before he lost his courage. "If you don't stop the attacks on Earth after this peace offering, she's going to start her own war here on Luna." He closed his eyes, sure that a wave of glamoured pain would wash over him. When it didn't come, he let his fists uncurl ever so slightly behind his back.

"Anything else, Emperor Kaito?" asked Levana, her voice still dangerously full of syrup.

"Two things, actually," said Kai. "First, I'd like a doctor to tend to my wounds, if it's not too much trouble." He shook his arms. "Second, I'd like you to know if your palace security is better than mine, because we have a wedding to plan. That is, if you'll still have me."


End file.
